Not everyone's cup of tea
Jaguar’s Type 00 concept car has undoubtedly been one of the most prolific vehicles revealed by a major automaker within the last 18 months. Led by the introduction of a controversial avant-garde rebrand on social media, the new Jag is the centerpiece of the British luxury marque’s ultra-high-end, low-production repositioning.
While the vehicle's branding has garnered attention (including some choice words from U.S. President Donald Trump), the conversation about the car has remained particularly mum. However, one designer whose portfolio is stacked with some very memorable, poster-worthy cars shared his feedback on Jag's new EV, and he didn't hold back.
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The car designer behind the BMW X5 thinks Jag's Type 00 is "forgettable" and "unautomotive"
Moroccan-American car designer and YouTuber Frank Stephenson is known for some divisive opinions. Still, with a legendary portfolio of cars like McLaren's MP4-12C, the original BMW X5, the first Mini built under BMW's ownership, and the Ford Escort RS Cosworth under his belt, his opinion carries some weight.
However, when it comes to the Jaguar Type 00, Stephenson has a lot to say, mostly critical. In an opinion piece penned by him for Top Gear, he did not hold back his criticisms: calling it "a concept that wasn’t fully thought through before it went to prototype," and "promising at a distance, but disappointing up close."
"The overall design lacks cohesion and seems unfinished. That’s a recurring theme – unfinished surfaces. Many panels appear flat and unrefined, like early-stage clay work," he said. "There’s no sense of surface entertainment – nothing sculptural or dynamic to catch the light or hold visual interest. It’s hard to find a single point of interest across the body, making the car forgettable from nearly every angle."
"The car severely misses the Jaguar villainy," Stephenson said
Although one may interpret the Jaguar Type 00's characteristics, such as its long hood and minimalist features, as a new vision of the Jaguar style, Stephenson's eye tells him it "severely misses the Jaguar villainy." He used the car's "oversized wheels" as an example of how the car's proportions feel "forced," adding that they make it look as if its "individual elements were created in isolation and stitched together later."
As a whole, the former Ferrari, McLaren, Maserati, and Fiat Designer said that the Type 00 "feels unautomotive," adding that the concept car reads more like a "digital model or a design student’s first year project." Additionally, he noted that the design of the Jag concept car has characteristics of another recently released vehicle from another major EV manufacturer.
"It lacks refinement, intent, and emotion," he said. "There’s a ‘Cybertruck effect’ at play: the pursuit of boldness without enough attention to proportion, purpose, or execution."
Final thoughts
Although I agree that some elements make the concept car "unautomotive," I think Jaguar missed some deeper cuts beyond what Frank Stephenson said. In an opinion piece for Hagerty, car design professor and former car designer Matteo Licata explained that while Jaguar's cars prominently feature long hoods—I mean, bonnets—as a way to harken back to a time where faster cars meant bigger engines, it was accompanied by a design language that complemented its image.
"But while cars like the XK 120 or the E-Type were sexy, svelte-looking homages to the cult of speed, the Type 00 is an unapologetically ponderous, imposing beast," he said. "The voluptuous curves and overall sense of dynamism that have long been associated with Jaguars are gone, replaced by the kind of visual heft one would much rather expect from a Rolls-Royce or a Bentley."
Jaguar Land Rover has a new CEO and has hit back at the criticism by telling Bloomberg that the latest models were getting an “exciting response” from customers. We'll have to wait until the wraps come off a production version to form a decisive opinion.
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