Took my XKR in for service last week and got my first up close look at a couple 2021 checkered flags, one coupe one convertible. The outside drop dead gorgeous. From all angles. Not sure about the rocker panel though. The interior was a huge let down for me. Not a spec of wood. I understand this dates me but for a $101,000.00 personally I would like to have seen some. Did/Do any new/past F Types have a burl wood interior option?

 

While I also like interior wood finishes, I don't think modern automotive interior design with large screens thematically fit such finish. It is not unlike complaining that your old CRT had a wood box around it, but no modern LED screens are offered with such finish.

 

Volvo still uses real wood in their interiors.

 

none of the F-types came with wood

 

They're cars for hooligans, not gentlemen!

 

The only time I'm a gentleman is when there is a woman around. Rest of the time all in on hooligan, no wood is a deal killer. Too bad but all is not lost. XKRS's still had wood. Will have to go that route when the time comes. Hooligans like wood too.

 

So does Jaguar - but not in its sport cars and the F-Type is a sports car, not a luxury sedan like the XJ or even the X-Type, nor is it a grand touring car like the XK (which had acres of beautiful wood trim).
The E-Type never had wood trim in the interior, nor has the F-Type. It would simply be out of place.
I also like the wood in Jaguar interiors. I love it, in fact. But in the F-Type? I don't miss it for a moment.

 

I had walnut burl in my XKR, I couldnt wait to wrap it to get rid of it. A little feature isnt so bad (the early XF's in premium luxury mode got it about right I think), but in the XKR it looked like someone had eaten a tree and projectile vomited it through the car.

I have dark hex in the f Type, it is very classy and modern.

 

I did not know the E-Type never had any wood on the inside.
Wood is so Jaguar I just assumed it did?
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No E-Type ever had wood trim, and in fact the first year of the XJS (1975) also had no wood trim, because Jaguar was marketing it as a sports model, which it was not; it was a grand touring car. The buying public rightly did not see it as a successor to the E-Type, and wanted it outfitted more luxuriously. So the wood appeared.
For the record, the open two seater XK120, the XK140, and the XK150 of the 50's were also bereft of wood trim. They were intended as pure sports cars (as is the F-Type). The more luxurious drophead coupe versions of these did have wood trim.

 

Too funny as I am thinking of adding Burlwood to my XKR doors. The piece around the rear view mirror switches, door handle to me is cheap looking in plastic. Looking at buying a steering wheel with burl wood accents. A burlwood shift knob also in the future. Good thing I don't own a sports car!

 

Lol yeah I really didnt like it in the XKR, it's like something that Fred Flintstone would drive in the cabin. By the time it arrived I already had wrap ready and I changed it all pretty much straight away.

In the XF though it was very classy, much more subtle I thought. But then no one ever calls me for tips on fashion!

 

Along the same lines, when did Jaguar stop using Connolly hides and switch to Windsor leather ? I had never heard of Windsor leather prior to looking at F Types. Apparently JLR has interest in some ranch in Scotland or something where a particular breed of cattle are raised and are free range so that their hides never get scars from barb wire and are very carefully selected and matched for grain and suppleness.

 

Good thing you didn't DRIVE one. You'd have discovered it's good to be bad.

 

I see wood in an F-Type the same way I view Chrome on the new Vette: It doesn't belong. It's an anachronism. Each had their time. Having said that, the black wood with the aluminum inlay in the Audi S6 was stellar.

Chevy caused a huge stir with Corvette owners when the discontinued Chrome wheels as an option. Dropping it made sense as Chrome does the opposite of what you want to do with unsprung weight. Wood to me just isn't sporty. Aluminum, Carbon Fiber, etc. are. C/F seems a little like a joke on the F-Type, though, as the car is so darn heavy, but that doesn't stop me from liking it.

 

Hate bold wood, our Maser has Black Piano. I've seen open pore black that looks nice. Had open pore dk brown on first Maser just ok.

 

1) Jaguar stopped using Connolly leather when Connolly went out of business in 2002 (!). Thereafter Jaguar used Italian-sourced hides.
2) Jaguar has always used very select hides with no scars from fencing. It has always been their policy.
3) "Windsor" is the name that Jaguar uses for its premium leather. It is not a supplier name. It is akin to the designation "Autolux" for the premium range leather that Jaguar used and which was formerly supplied by Connolly. And then there is the Mercedes designation of "Artico leather"... uh...wait, that is actually vinyl!

 

I view wood in a modern car much the same as the fake "woody" appliques on a 1980's Buick station wagon - something best left in the past. None in my Range Rover either.

2 cents,
Dave

 

But I'm from the past.
Speaking of the past what ever happened to "Corinthian Leather"

 

I love Chrome! I have a 70s car that has tons of chrome. It looks right on it. I even went as far as getting few parts re-chromed, because they were getting tarnished with age. Shhhiiiny!

I fully agree with you that chrome does not belong on modern cars. Maybe some window trim or door handles are OK, but chrome wheels are too much. On a modern cars, chrome looks about as classy as a man with large gold chain with $ sign on it.