Jaguar Unleashes First-Ever SUV, Portends Automotive End Times

The classic British luxury brand succumbs to SUV mania with the F-Pace.

A sign of the coming of the automotive apocalypse—to traditionalists anyway—is the imminent arrival of the first-ever Jaguar SUV.

The F-Pace debuts at the Frankfurt Motor Show Sept. 15, but the company has released some details and a photo of a prototype wearing flashy fireworks-themed camouflage wrap. If the very notion of a Jaguar SUV isn’t enough to disappoint diehard Jag fans, the garish finish in place of proper British Racing Green should certainly do the job.

Porsche has seen its SUV models become sales leaders and a profit center for the brand, an opportunity Jaguar is eyeing greedily. Jaguar design director Ian Callum tweeted excerpts from his interview with Top Gear magazine.

“I swore I’d never design the F-Pace,” he said, before explaining that now he believes it will become the brand’s top seller. He promises that, REALLY, the F-Pace drives like a proper Jag. See, it is even built using same Jaguar Lightweight Aluminum foundation as the car’s flagship sedans to bake all that Jaguar goodness in there.

“We haven’t made any compromises or exceptions: the new F-PACE had to be a true Jaguar and had to deliver the dynamics DNA,” insists Mike Cross, chief engineer of vehicle integrity. We don’t know whether that title refers to the car’s solidness of construction or to its philosophical integrity to the brand’s heritage. Either way, Cross insists the F-Pace delivers.

“We’ve tested ride and handling to the limit, and the result is that the new F-PACE is as engaging and rewarding to drive as it is comfortable and quiet. As soon as you get into the vehicle you know immediately that it’s a good place to be.”

And good places to be will be in high demand if in fact the F-Pace’s arrival precipitates the apocalypse, so order one right away. In the meantime, you can always revisit the new Jaguar F-Type or gaze upon nine vintage Jags. 

Photos by Jaguar