► Only kidding – our F-Type’s beauty is soul deep
► A talented car; if only the boot wasn’t thimble-sized
► Read month 3 here
There are many things this F-Type doesn’t have. It doesn’t have a decent boot and nore does it have any usable cabin storage. The centre console won’t swallow a charging smartphone, so there’s always a cabled iPhone either propped up in the cupholders or slung out on the passenger seat.
It doesn’t have the right balance of body control and suspension compliance in Dynamic mode. On our gruesome West Sussex roads it rides with a jarring abruptness that soon becomes wearying. Better to flick from Dynamic to Normal and waft along at silly speeds.
It doesn’t have any lag. The supercharged engine beneath that vast aluminium bonnet responds instantly to your right foot. That sense of immediacy is enhanced by the quick-witted eight-speed transmission. Left to its own devices it always seems to be in the correct gear, and will bullet through the gears when using the paddles or stubby gearlever.
It doesn’t have the snappiest of infotainment systems, but it’s intuitive, it always hooks up to my phone, it’s been fault-free and it allows you to personalise the intrument layout.
It doesn’t have the chassis rigidity you want in a car weighing in at 1718kg. You sense rather than feel the slight flex and stretch over ridges and crackled surfaces but, being a roadster that invites a more laid-back driving approach, this doesn’t bother me.
It doesn’t annoy you with a complex start-up-and-deactivate-overkill-safety-systems process. Just walk up to the car, drop down into the fragrant cabin, thumb the illuminated start button and drive off; no bings and rings to swear at, just the engine’s rich three-dimensional soundtrack to fill the cabin, gently vibrate nearby windows and turn the heads of pedestrians.
What this Jaguar does have is character, presence and flair. Whether you’re just doing local chores or absolutely pinning it in every gear on a solitary late-night roof-down blast through the South Downs, driving the Jaguar always feels like an event to be relished and remembered.
It’s on your side. Late for the airport? The F-Type’s serious cross-country pace and athleticism will help you get to Heathrow Terminal 5 far quicker than you believed possible. It can also slip unobtrusively through traffic and draw the right kind of glances in the car park. What an absolute joy.
Read month 3
Read month 2
Read month 1
Logbook: Jaguar F-Type
Price £84,125 (£88,145 as tested)
Performance 5000cc supercharged V8, 450bhp, 4.4sec 0-62mph, 177mph
Efficiency 27.0mpg (official) 22.7mpg (tested), 238g/km CO2
Energy cost 29.0p per mile
Miles this month 615
Total miles 2790