Bertone’s Baby Jaguar Sports Sedan: Not My Cup of Tea

In all honestly, I really struggle to see how the Bertone B99 fits into Jaguar’s past and current design lineage and line-up. The new generation of Jags – the XF and the XJ – are sleek, risqué and look like nothing else on the market. On the other hand, the B99 could just as easily be badged as a Lincoln, a Rolls-Royce or a Maserati. If you squint at the pictures you’ll see my point. It’s anonymously styled, as if Bertone used a book called, “Luxury Concept Cars 101” as a template. And that grille! It just screams, “Dodge Caliber!”
And apart from the taillights and the A-pillar, can you really see any of Jaguar’s past in the B99? I know I can’t. And isn’t the mere thought a compact Jaguar as bad as Aston Martin rebadging the Toyota iQ as the Cygnet or Porsche selling a SUV?
It devalues the brand, and in the luxury market that’s the worse crime a carmaker can make. Sure, it means more sales, but I’ve never been a fan of the, “profit uber alles!” the eighties left us with.
For me personally, Jaguars have always been either V8/V12-engined coupes and big sedans. The E-Type, the Mk II...even the much derided XJS and XJ6. As if it wasn’t bad enough that BMW’s sells a naturally aspirated (or naturally asthmatic) 4cyl 3-Series, now there’s this on the horizon all in the pursuit of the almighty dollar. To think we’ve gone from, “A Modern Day Successor to the E-Type” to yet another attempt for a “BMW 3-Series competitor” just breaks my heart.

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Bertone's Baby-Jaguar B99 Concept Looks Surprisingly Good

[Updated with high-res pictures] After the teaser image we showed you earlier today, the first three images of Bertone's design study for a compact Jaguar, hit the web. Dubbed B99 (for the 99th anniversary of Bertone) the eye-catching concept car has a sleek coupe profile, even though it's a four-door sedan. The suicide doors give it a distinctive appearance, but if Jaguar were to build a production model, it's unlikely that they would remain.

While it might look like a long limousine, the Italian design house's B99 concept is just 4.5 meters long. Combine this with the very low height (1.35 meters) and the pretty wide body (1.95 meters) and you have a small sedan looking like a much bigger and more luxurious model, whose profile brings to mind the classic Jaguar XJ.

The very thin A-pillars, the narrow windows and the short front overhang give the car a dynamic yet classy look, while the front and the rear mirror each other, with very thin headlights/taillights and an oval grille whose form is replicated in the back. Inside, the B99 appears to offer a classy environment, mixing brushed aluminium with leather and polished African walnut trim.

Under the hood, the concept sports sedan is said to feature a newly developed full-hybrid drive, but further details remain unknown.

Bertone's Baby-Jaguar B99 Concept Looks Surprisingly Good

[Updated with high-res pictures] After the teaser image we showed you earlier today, the first three images of Bertone's design study for a compact Jaguar, hit the web. Dubbed B99 (for the 99th anniversary of Bertone) the eye-catching concept car has a sleek coupe profile, even though it's a four-door sedan. The suicide doors give it a distinctive appearance, but if Jaguar were to build a production model, it's unlikely that they would remain.

While it might look like a long limousine, the Italian design house's B99 concept is just 4.5 meters long. Combine this with the very low height (1.35 meters) and the pretty wide body (1.95 meters) and you have a small sedan looking like a much bigger and more luxurious model, whose profile brings to mind the classic Jaguar XJ.

The very thin A-pillars, the narrow windows and the short front overhang give the car a dynamic yet classy look, while the front and the rear mirror each other, with very thin headlights/taillights and an oval grille whose form is replicated in the back. Inside, the B99 appears to offer a classy environment, mixing brushed aluminium with leather and polished African walnut trim.

Under the hood, the concept sports sedan is said to feature a newly developed full-hybrid drive, but further details remain unknown.

By Dan Mihalascu

Via Autobild

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Bertone to Debut B99 Jaguar Concept for a BMW 3-Series Rival in Geneva

Whispers of a new design study for a Jaguar model from Bertone have been going around lately, but today, a teaser image surfaced online providing us with our first peek at the car, which is named B99 (Bertone 99) and is set to premiere at next month's Geneva Motor Show.

The B99 is a conceptual proposal for a 'baby' Jaguar model targeting the likes of the BMW 3-Series and Mercedes C-Class saloons. The concept will feature a traditional four-door sedan body with more classic proportions and styling cues than the XJ and XF.

If the reviews for the B99 are positive, the concept could form the base for the creation of a production model that will sit right under the XF, providing Jaguar with a new entry-level model. Just recently, the British automaker's new global director, Adrian Hallmark, confirmed that Jaguar is indeed considering a smaller model to increase the company's sales.

Photo via es.Autoblog & Autoblog.it

Jaguar XKR Goodwood Special with 530HP V8: New Photo Gallery

If you made it to this weekend's Goodwood Festival of Speed (July 3-5), there's no way you could have not noticed Jaguar's special edition XKR. The one-off performance model that was purposely built for the event was painted in an extremely distinct lime-green color while the coupe also featured special exterior graphics in gray and orange.

Other styling tweaks that differentiate this model over the standard 2010 XKR facelift include the 21-inch alloys and the satin graphite detailing to the front grilles, door mirrors, rear signature blade, side window surrounds, headlights and bonnet louvres.

What's more is that Jaguar's engineers fiddled around with the XKR's supercharged 5.0-liter V8 that in standard form makes 510HP and 625Nm or 461 lb-ft of torque launching the sports coupe from standstill to 60mph (96km/h) in 4.6 seconds. In the XKR Goodwood Special, output is lifted to 530 horsepower and torque to 700Nm or 516.2 lb-ft.

The special edition XKR also features a lowered suspension and a tweaked exhaust system for a louder and more intimidating sound. Jaguar said that that the XKR Goodwood Special is a one-off model but we gather that if there's enough interest, the British automaker may launch a limited run series in the near future.

Jaguar Goodwood Special XKR: First Official Photos of Performance Model

The lime green Jaguar you see going slideways above is the 'Goodwood Special XKR', a one-off model that it will make its world debut at this weekend's Goodwood Festival of Speed. It is based on the facelifted 2010 XKR that exits the factory with a supercharged 5.0-liter V8 producing 510HP and 625Nm of torque that propels the coupe to 60mph (96km/h) from standstill in 4.6 seconds. Jaguar said that the one-off model features an array of performance enhancements and a louder exhaust, but did not disclose any specific details.

The 'Goodwood Special XKR' also features 21-inch alloy wheels and a lowered ride-height while the coupe's exterior stands out with the unique Lime Green paint scheme and XKR exterior graphics along with satin graphite detailing to the front grilles, headlights, door mirrors, side window surrounds, rear signature blade and bonnet louvres.