Jaguar Races Back To Respectability

By George Polgar

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - The auto industry does high drama better than any reality or celeb gossip show! Case in point is the newly emboldened Jaguar brand and its $130,000 F-Type R Coupe, a 550 horsepower supercharged V8, all aluminum land rocket.

Despite the gravitas of noble heritage, the success of the new F-Type represents a real turn of fate, making the company the fastest growing premium brand in the US last year.

Quality in Jaguar's latter 1980s independent years became the butt of all car jokes. And the Ford era increased Jaguar market share but produced bland cars that diluted the brand's exclusivity.

Now owned by Tata Motors of India along with Land Rover, Jaguar is once again a symbol of superb quality, formidable performance, and precision engineering and craftsmanship.

As with Shakira, the voluptuously profiled F-Type Coupe's "hips don't lie!" presents a stunning sculpture on four wheels with windswept lines and a menacing blacked out front grille flanked by sultry flush mounted headlamps.

On the road the stiff body and adaptive dynamic suspension, paired with an 8-speed quickshift trans, makes the F-Type incredibly nimble and capable of handling the enormous power.