The Jaguar roars again
Monday, April 23rd, 2007
When first seen at the Detroit Auto Show earlier in the year, Jaguar’s Advanced Lightweight Coupe stole the show, capturing the attention as few cars have in recent years. With its sleek, sensual styling, powerful yet sophisticated stance and exquisite interior design, this is a car that brings out the best in modern design and engineering—coupled with tasteful retro touches from the golden age of the sumptuous sports car. With such credentials, it’s not surprising that people spoke of the new E-Type, for while the ‘ALC’ itself was not quite a production model yet, it formed the basis for the new Jaguar XK, launched at the Frankfurt Auto Show last month.
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You can always tell when a car was primarily designed to be one thing and then adapted for other uses. As a result, hatchbacks with a boot often look ridiculous and many a sumptuous open-topped roadster has been joined by a rather awkward looking hardtop version. The BMW Z4 defies this logic, however, with the new hardtop coupe actually outshining the already attractive Z4 roadster. Rather than a rigid roof artificially superimposed on the body of a 2+2 roadster, this new model not only adds to the overall beauty of the Z4’s design, it has actually helped to solve some of its design flaws. 
With its rounded bubble forms and striking looks the Audi TT is a distinctly German take on the classic 2+2 roadster format. Where the British and Italians remain true to tradition and even the Japanese try to emulate it, German car manufacturers such as Audi break the mould and bring the genre into the 21st century. You can’t do this without breaking a few eggs, and the TT did cause quite a stir when it first appeared in the late 90s. At first, opinions were polarised regarding this quirky newcomer, but even the doubters have long since been won over, seduced by the sheer power, technology and modern style of this fun yet never frivolous car. 