Looking back at the Jaguar F-Type in South Africa

In modern motoring terms a decade is a lifetime.

Whereas in the old days a model series would continue without significant change, running well into double digits before its successor emerged, today product life-cycles are considerably shorter.

The Jaguar F-Type is a good example. It was launched in 2013, had a major refresh in 2019 and after a production run of 87,731 copies the model has now been put out to pasture. Though, according to the brand, it will still be available until early 2025.

It was a crucial series for the British firm, playing a significant role in helping them get their groove back.

There were the obvious parallels between it and the famed E-Type. But it also played into broader brand-building exercises, serving as a great representative of the “good to be bad” campaign Jaguar had been pushing at the time.

At that point we knew what the Coventry carmaker was all about. The jury is still out as to whether it can pull off its ambition to go all-electric from next year.

In July 2013 the F-Type was launched locally. It was one of those cars that stayed (more or less) true to the potential held by proceeding concept vehicles, closely resembling that dazzling C-X16 show car of 2011.

Everyone wanted a taste of the F-Type, with its bloodline spanning more than seven decades, comprising a pedigreed lineage of stunning two-seater sports cars.

The range kicked off with three models, using V6 and V8 motors. First was the regular supercharged 3.0 V6 (250kW/450Nm) carrying a pricetag of R845,000.

For R975,000 you could have had the V6 S — the same unit, but massaged to deliver 280kW/460Nm. At the top of the hierarchy was the V8 S with its raucous 5.0-litre supercharged heart, producing 364kW/625Nm.

It had a quite a reputation — just about every member of the motoring media fraternity could tell you an interesting story of encounters behind the wheel. The eight-cylinder came in at R1.3m.

My first experience with the F-Type that year was behind the wheel of a V6 S test unit, resplendent in white (the exact car in the main image). The encounter felt like a special occasion, from the pop-out door handles that retracted like cat claws to the intoxicating acoustics of the six-cylinder.

Replete with novel pops, bangs and chortles, and a howling symphony under full acceleration, it was addictive.

This was a time just before the “vrr-pha” onomatopoeia became so ubiquitous, with trumped-up noises synthesised in even lukewarm hatches like a Hyundai i20 N-Line.

There were some downsides to the Jaguar. For one, the F-Type roadster had a comically small boot that would have made “baecation” weekends away a little tricky, unless you and your partner could stuff all your essentials into a shared satchel.

In June the following year, Jaguar gave the F-Type wider appeal with a coupé body format. The engine range mirrored that of the roadster line, while pricing ranged from R843,404 to R1,534,189.

It was also a tad more practical, with the carmaker quoting a luggage compartment of 407l.

Also that year, the limited-run Project 7 made its debut. The stripped-out speedster commemorated 60 years of the legendary D-Type which won Le Mans three times.

The road-legal, open-air Project 7's V8 engine served up 423kW/680Nm, tipping the scales at 1,585kg, after an 80kg weight reduction. It wielded a claimed 0-100km/h sprint time of 3.9 seconds.

In November 2019 extra power and the prospect of all-wheel drive was added to the range.

The V8 unit in the F-Type R now served up 405kW/680Nm, a considerable boost over the initial V8 S. For those who found the eight-cylinder model to be on the lairy side, all-wheel drive could be had as an option in the coupé, but the roadster was standard with rear-wheel drive.

Another change at this point was the adoption of an electric power steering system.

In February 2016 order books opened for the most extreme expression of the F-Type breed yet: the SVR.

It was 25kg lighter than the R, with its supercharged 5.0-litre V8 developing 423kW/700Nm. The all-wheel drive beast quoted a 0-100km/h time of 3.7 seconds on to a top speed of 322km/h. At the time, it carried a base price of R2.1m.

A slight change of pace was ushered in during 2017. Aside from an assortment of minor visual tweaks for the range, a new derivative was added, pandering to more conservative buyers.

Hard to imagine but yes, there was now a 2.0-litre, four-cylinder version on offer. The outputs were fair, 221kW/400Nm was extracted from the Ingenium unit, enabling a claimed 0-100km/h sprint time of 5.7 seconds.

Interesting that the company chose Kyalami as the launch venue. While it lacked the acoustic character and outright pace of the V6 and V8 siblings, it was a balanced car to drive, with a lighter mass, in addition to being more forgiving at the limit. Pricing started at R953,300 for the coupé, the roadster cost R971,000.

December 2019 saw the reveal of a significantly updated F-Type. It introduced a refreshed aesthetic character that seemed to divide opinion.

Gone were the substantial headlamps in favour of slit-type units, which gave the model the look of a serpent, rather than a wild feline. There was slightly more in the way of interior digitisation too, with enhanced infotainment and connectivity capabilities.

Thankfully the sporting essence of the model was not diluted, retaining the V8 at the top, V6 in the middle and 2.0-litre at the bottom of the range.

The range also introduced a new convention for designations, in line with the rest of the Jaguar Land Rover portfolio, using horsepower output to signify what was under the hood.

P300 represented the 2.0-litre, P380 represented the 3.0-litre and the 5.0-litre was tagged P575. At local launch in August 2020 pricing ranged from R1,243,000 to R2,422,700.

October 2022 saw the announcement of the final update for the F-Type, with a local line-up comprising the V8 versions exclusively, in 331kW or 423kW guises.

Subtle revisions were made in the stylistic, specification and chassis departments.

We recently had a turn in the F-Type R75 coupé (423kW), with all-wheel drive, costing a snip more than R3m.

The experience was expectedly bittersweet, revelling in those signature acoustics most likely for the last time.

As a final blast for the series, 150 ZP Edition F-Type models were made, inspired by two E-Type racers from the 1960s. Two of those ZP Edition models were earmarked for buyers in Mzansi.

The final F-Type to roll off the Castle Bromwich plant was a 5.0 V8 roadster in Giola green, with a black roof and tan interior. It will live on in the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust collection, alongside the last 1974 E-Type in 5.3-litre V12 Series III guise.

It will be interesting to see if and how Jaguar translates the spirit of its famed sports car into the electric era.

Farewell to the internal combustion engine F-Type series.