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Jaguar’s rally-ready F-Type roadster is happiest off the pavement

The Jaguar F-Type is putting on a racing suit to celebrate the 70th birthday of one of its predecessors. The British firm has turned two topless examples of its halo sports car into full-blown rally machines with ample power to back up the look. Neither one will ever get the chance to fight for the top spot on the podium, however.

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In 2018, going rally-racing in a convertible will raise more than a few eyebrows; chopping off the top reduces rigidity while exposing the pilot and the co-pilot to a copious amount of dust, water, and other elements encountered during a rally stage. The body style was a lot more common several decades ago, and Jaguar created its rally-ready F-Type as a tribute to the race-winning, 70-year-old XK120.

Designed to FIA specifications, the F-Type received upgraded brakes on both axles and a rally-specific suspension setup that adds more ground clearance plus additional wheel travel. The tweaks let the roadster drive flat-out on rough and uneven terrain –something we never thought we’d write about the F-Type. Jaguar also added off-road tires wrapped around alloy wheels.

Outside, four additional lights installed on the hood and a set of mud flaps create that unmistakable rally look. Inside, a roll cage protects the occupants in the event of a rollover. The cabin also received a built-in fire extinguisher and a pair of bucket seats with racing harnesses.

Jaguar offers the F-Type with four-, six-, and eight-cylinder engines. It chose to start the rally build with the four-cylinder model. Power comes from a turbocharged 2.0-liter that sends 300 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque to the rear wheels through an eight-speed automatic transmission. Though the firm hasn’t published performance specifications, the bone-stock F-Type takes 5.4 seconds to reach 60 mph from a stop.

The rally-ready F-Type showed fans what it’s capable of during the Walters Arena rally stage held in South Wales. Jaguar notes the model will attend a series of brand-related events in the coming months, but a company spokesperson told Digital Trends there are no plans to race the model or sell it to pilots who want to compete in one. “It’s just a bit of fun,” the spokesperson summed up. That’s too bad; even the I-Pace, Jaguar’s electric crossover, is a blast on a race track, so we bet an F-Type purpose-built into a rally machine would fend off more than a few competitors.

Ronan Glon
Ronan Glon is an American automotive and tech journalist based in southern France. As a long-time contributor to Digital…
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