Make: Jaguar
Model: R-Coupe
Concept year: 2002
Production year -
Engine-
Jaguar debuted the R-Coupe at the 2002 New York International Auto Show. The R-Coupe was was the first complete vehicle developed under Ian Callum, appointed as Jaguar's design director in 1999. The car was created to demonstrate the future design direction of Jaguar under this new leadership.
The Jaguar R-Coupe is a luxury 4 door coupe with almost identical front end features to the Jaguar R-D6 conceptshown a year later. For the R-Coupe concept Jaguar challenged their designers to create a car capable of carrying the marque from a niche manufacturer into the mainstream market, while representing the company's core values.
The Jaguar R-Coupe has some similar styling details to some of the 2005 and 2006 Jaguar products, namely the 2006 XK, which shares a similar styling detail on on the front arches, just behind the wheel.
The contemporary yet classic lines of the Jaguar R-Coupe were influenced by Jaguar's from the '50's and '60's, the grille and headlight configuration being the most reminiscent.
Inside the R-Coupe warm colors are combined with wood and leather to provide a luxurious interior, an essential ingredient for any jaguar model. The dashboard and instrument panel have a distinctly retro vibe, but the use of a sequential paddle shift gearbox, integrated voice-controlled telematics system and personalised environmental controls quickly remind you this was a pretty advanced concept.
Although there is no chance of production itself, the Jaguar R-Coupe was based around a realistic 4 seat package and V8 powertrain.