The Jaguar F-Pace is the most beautiful SUV on planet Earth

(Newspress)
The F-Pace at the LA Auto Show.

When you wait a long time for something, you should be rewarded. That's what happened this week at the LA Auto Show, when Jaguar Land Rover finally and officially revealed its much-anticipated F-Pace crossover SUV in North America.

There has never been a Jag truck before (the XF Sportbrake station wagon, not sold in the US, doesn't count). But given the importance of these vehicles now for luxury automakers, its was overdue. Jag has sedans and sports cars, but it was lagging behind corporate siblings Land Rover and Range Rover, which of course sell SUVs and nothing else.

For anyone who adores the sleek lines of the legendary Jaguar E-Type, probably the most drop-dead gorgeous automobile ever created, the very idea of a Jag truck is horrifying. But if you're going to have one, it should look great.

And thanks to Jaguar designer Ian Callum, it does. In fact, it looks better than great. It's easily the most beautiful SUV to (soon) hit the road.

Which is a bit weird. But also understandable. The other car in the Jag stable that should showcase Ian's considerable talent is the F-Type sports car. But I've never liked it very much. Compared with another Callum design, the Aston Martin DB9 (and before it, the DB7), the F-Type to my eye comes off as musclebound and thick, like a thug in an overly tailored suit who needs brag about how much he just won (or lost) and the craps table.

(Matthew DeBord/Business Insider)
I'm not a fan.

I'm in a distinct minority here — pretty much everyone else thinks the F-Type is a glorious set of wheels, poetry in sheet metal.

However, you can kind of see my point if you study at the F-Pace and see that same loudmouth thug in a suit that properly envelopes his bulk. The F-Type is too big. The F-Pace is just right — in its bigness Callum has found the correct scale to execute on his current vision.

(Wikimedia Commons)
Pretty, pretty E-Type.

The F-Pace is "the latest expression of Jaguar's passion" Callum said when the car was unveiled this week at the LA Auto Show.

"It's not just a Jaguar you want," he added, "it's a Jaguar you need."

Hubba.