Jaguar Type 01 Is Here And This Coventry Kid Is Rooting For It

Creative Boom: Jaguar Type 01 is here, and this Coventry kid is rooting for it Nearly two years after its rebrand sparked international debate and uproar, Jaguar has revealed its first production car, marking its new era. As someone born in its home city, I've been looking forward to this one. I was born in Coventry, which means I was never going to be neutral about Jaguar. It's the city the car company has called home since 1928, and if you also come from there, then you'll know the leaping cat feels like part of your own heritage. Besides, Jaguar has always been my dad's favourite car. This morning, I asked him why.

He said, "Because they make such beautiful and stylish cars. Since my first ride in a Jag at age six, I have loved them. And when I got to work there in the early 70s, wow... I could walk around the assembly track and the museum." And so, when I got married, I hired a 1960s Jag for the day. Because nothing else would come close to feeling special enough for the occasion. And it meant I could sit in a classic Jag with my lovely dad. With so much love for a car brand, I've spent the last two years getting frustrated by the negativity online, much like you'd feel about hearing someone talk unfavourably about a dear friend.

When Jaguar revealed its reimagined brand in November 2024, featuring a new wordmark and a 'Copy Nothing' slogan sitting beside a launch film that famously didn't feature a car, the internet went a bit nuts. You'd think they'd beheaded someone lovely, like Mary Berry, the way they went on. A fortnight later, it launched Type 00 at Miami Art Week, a pink concept car that mostly got trolled. Once everything calmed down, there were whispers Jaguar might be finished. Never, I said to no one. Not my beloved Jaguar. But, like most people, I've been wondering: so where's the car? Well, today it's finally here.

Jaguar has unveiled Type 01, a fully electric four-door GT and the first production model of its new era. So what's it all about and what's the verdict? The cat comes back First things first, the detail we mourned the most when the rebrand was announced has returned. The leaper is on the car again. It has one home on the exterior, laser-etched into a brass-effect finisher on the front wing that Jaguar calls the "Fender Ingot", and it shows up again inside along the tops of the doors. I don't know about other die-hard Jag fans, but it's a relief to see the brand listened. The shape of the car, though, is the bigger story here.

Type 01 is long and low with a long bonnet, a short front overhang and 23-inch wheels that come up to more than half of the car's height. It's a design you don't normally see on electric vehicles because there's no engine to justify such a large bonnet. But Jaguar kept it anyway, and says there's a good reason why: the distance from the front axle to the front door makes up 17% of the car's length, which is exactly what it was on the beloved E-type. I mean, look at it. I don't know about you, but I'm impressed. My dad is right – Jaguar really does make beautiful cars.

(Although, when I sent a few pics on the WhatsApp family group this morning, the response from him was, "Ugly!") Ha. Design is subjective, I suppose. An impossible panel When I say impossible panel, I don't mean a bout of the BBC's Question Time. I'm talking about a single piece of aluminium. Let me explain. The rear quarter of the car has five planes and three feature lines that meet at one point. How on earth did they make such a panel? Jaguar's engineers spent ages working out how to do it. Around 1,500 hours, apparently.

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The launch of Jaguar's Type 01 represents a significant shift in the brand's strategy and product offering, particularly in the electric vehicle market, making it highly relevant and impactful for brand strategists.