Return of a legend

We all remember the Jaguar icons of the past. Who can forget the C-Type, D-Type and perhaps the most famous of them all, the iconic E-Type?

Enzo Ferrari said the E-Type was the most beautiful car ever designed.

Pop stars, kings and celebrities flocked to own the car. Frank Sinatra on seeing the E-Type was dumbstruck, all he could say was: "I want one".

Now, after 50 years, another Jaguar sports car is about to hit the roads again.

Following a natural progression, it will be called the F-Type and be produced in the United Kingdom, home of Jaguar.

Speaking at the New York Auto Show, Jaguar global brand director Adrian Hallmark said: "We showed the C-X16 concept in September 2011, and the reaction to it has been so positive we've accelerated our development of an all-new Jaguar sports car.

"That car will be called the F-Type, and it will be unveiled in production form later this year. The core appeal of Jaguar's cars is their sporting heart, and that heart will beat stronger than ever before in the F-Type.

"Its development is a vivid representation of the confidence and ambition of the Jaguar brand, and the desire among our engineers and design team to produce a world-leader in a market segment from which we have been absent for too long. But no longer - the F-Type is coming."

Utilising Jaguar's industry-leading knowledge of all-aluminium construction, the F-Type will launch as a convertible, and a strict two-seater with the focus uncompromisingly on delivering driver reward, Hallmark said.

A range of petrol engines would be available - including a new powerplant family - and all would deliver stunning sports car performance, he said.

Hallmark said it also marked the point that the F-Type's rigorous development schedule moved to final on-road testing, with engineering prototypes now leaving Jaguar's Castle Bromwich plant - the same plant at which the production cars will be built.

Ian Hoban, Jaguar's vehicle line director, said: "The engineering development of the F-Type has focused on delivering a heightened level of dynamic driving reward.

"We are excited about our progress to date and are looking forward to soon being able to demonstrate what we have achieved."

Director of design, Ian Callum, said: "A true sports car needs to be pure in both its purpose and its form; to have the opportunity to produce such a car for Jaguar has been a privilege both for myself and for my team.

"The C-type, D-type and E-type Jaguars were all sports cars that held true to this principle in their era, and the F-Type will hold true to that same principle in its time, a time that is soon to arrive."

The F-Type will join Jaguar's existing range of cars - the XF saloon and Sportbrake, XJ saloon and XK coupé/convertible.

Full F-Type technical and range details will be announced later this year, and it will go on sale in the middle of next year.