If you promised yourself a Jaguar sports car but haven’t got round to ordering it yet, you had better get a wriggle on. Jaguar is calling time on the F-Type. Next year will be the last not just for the nine-year-old two-seater but the final curtain for all petrol-powered sportscars bearing the Leaper badge, a distinguished line that famously began 75 years ago with the XK120.
A sad time then, at least until Jag comes up with an electric sports car (we sincerely hope) as part of its planned all-electric model offering from 2025. Surely no future for petrol power shouldn’t also mean no future for sportscars?
While we speculate on a battery-powered XK we can reflect on the end of an era with the F-Type 75. Yes, Jaguar has inevitably concocted a special edition to mark both the end of the sportscar’s production and the XK120’s 75th anniversary. The V8-only F-Type 75 is available in both 450PS (336kW) and 575PS (429kW) R forms, in either coupe or convertible body styles, and can be ordered now with first deliveries promised for early 2023. By the end of 2023, the F-Type will be no more.
The 75 edition is a colour, trim and badge job that changes nothing of any substance, but then that is surely fine because the car is still a looker and one of the more engaging drives around. Why wouldn’t it be, with theatrical V8 sound effects and the ability in the more powerful R to knock off 0-62mph runs in 3.5 seconds?
The 75 edition models promise a bespoke standard spec (Windsor leather, Black Pack interior, suede-cloth headliner, lightweight seats, you get the picture) and come with just a few discreet exterior touches to mark them out as the last of the line. You can spot the last-ever petrol Jag sportscar by its F-Type silhouette motifs, 20-inch gloss black wheels and special Giola Green metallic paint option. Look too for wheel centres and grille badging in black rather than red. In mourning for the petrol sportscar maybe?
The two 75 models now make up the lion’s share of the F-Type range in newly slimmed-down form for 2023. The entry model, as either coupe or convertible, remains the four-cylinder 300PS (221kW) R-Dynamic P300, rear-wheel-drive only but now also on standard 20-inch wheels. It costs from £62,235 (coupe) or £67,825 (convertible). The V8 75 edition models start at £78,330 and top out at £108,065 for a 575PS R convertible.
Keyword: The F‑Type 75 is Jaguar's final petrol sportscar