Jaguar F-Type Coupe arrives in British villain style

Jaguar has decided to market its new F-Type Coupe as a “British villain,” or so the executives told us as the car was unleashed onto the world Tuesday night: “stylish, calm, calculating, and a little sexy.” As annoying as that characterization might be, when they rolled the red Coupe out, it also seemed terrifyingly accurate. Originally designed as the CX-16 Concept, the Coupe has now come to life, a sinister bullet of a car, with deeply dramatic “heart lines” that swoop from the front grille to the back tail-light, designed to turn heads and drive deep into underground fortress garages.

The F-Type Coupe comes standard with a 340-hp V-6 engine, or with a 380-hp V-6 S package. But what makes it the crown jewel of the Jaguar fleet is the R Coupe, the first time the R high-performance badge has been applied to the F Type. The R comes with a 550-hp supercharged V-8 that can go 0 to 60 in four heartbreaking seconds. It’s fitted with an adaptive dynamics system that will control vertical body movement, roll and pitch rate, an electronic active differential that works with a custom torque vectoring system, state-of-the-art stability control, and an eight-speed transmission, all of which is car-speak for “it will melt your face.” Carbon ceramic brakes and submarine conversion kit are optional.