At least JLR is generating some buzz. At the Los Angeles auto show, Jaguar invited a gaggle of media types and hangers-on to a little evening at a garage owned by talk show host and noted gear head Jay Leno. The big-chinned comedian was not the star of the show, either. That fell to the C-X75 concept first unveiled in September at the Paris auto show, where it was named the outstanding concept of the event.
The C-X75 truly is breathtaking. The car can reach 330 km/h and sprint from rest to 100 km/h in just 3.4 seconds. It will do 80-145 km/h in 2.3 seconds, yet for a range of 110 km puts out zero tailpipe emissions while running solely on lithium-ion battery power.
“The C-X75 is everything a Jaguar should be,” design director Ian Callum told me in Paris. “It possesses remarkable poise and grace yet at the same time has the excitement and potency of a true super-car. You could argue this is as close to a pure art form as a concept car can get and we believe it is a worthy homage to 75 years of iconic Jaguar design.”
This C-X75 is far more than an homage to Jaguar’s history, however. It is a stunning example of how car companies can inject joy into the electrified future that all the experts say awaits the auto industry.
As the numbers show, the C-X75 is not a golf cart. No golf cart comes with four 145-kW (195-hp) electric motors – one for each wheel – that combined produce 780 hp. Each motor weighs just 50 kg and putting a motor at each wheel makes this concept a four-wheel-drive ride. Two micro gas-turbines, spinning at 80,000 rpm, can generate enough electricity to extend the range to 900 km, while emitting just 28 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometre.
In a nutshell, the C-X75 plays the part of a high-tech tour de force. The overall design steals from the XJ220 super-car and XJ13 concept, but its curves are original, and the pooled expanses of sheet metal comprising the hood and rear deck lid are to die for. Will Jag build it for sale?
“We are being disciplined with our [new model] investment, but that doesn’t mean we can’t do some interesting things,” says Duffield, as we chew over the future of Jaguar’s lineup, starting with the possibilities presented by the C-X75. Jaguar is looking to add models to the lineup beyond an affordable roadster, including some sort of estate wagon.
All this adds up to quite the shocker: Jaguar and Land Rover, profitable and ready to expand. No one, least of all me, would have bet on this scenario coming to pass. Good thing I’m not a betting man.
