since the subject of the ugly rear wheel arches of the Jaguar S type comes up every now and then, I decided to stare at the side of my S type to see what is wrong but I conclude they don't look that bad.

the car has very elegant lines and the rear wheels arches are nicely proportioned.. (the boat is not mine, I was at my sister's home, it belongs to my nephew who parks it there).

Since that photo, I replaced the straight muffler tips with XJ-S Coupe' rolled "S"-shaped tips and they look awesome, the rear look of the car "opened up" like a XJ-6.

 

As you know I love the rear wheelarch & think that the design has stood the test of time. But I think that as the Bertone FT Coupe, built on the S Type "chassis" (and later 420 chassis), displays ~ it would have looked even better with a slightly longer wheelbase.

 

I have never seen one of those Bertone cars Glyn. It looks like a BMW or Maserati Quatroporte.

 

Yes it is very Italianate in it's style of the time.

 

Bertone is the coach builder or the name, if not, looks like Pininfarina did it ?

 

Bertone of Turin is both the design house and the coachbuilder.

The Jaguar FT was one of the first cars designed for Bertone by the company’s recently appointed head of design, Marcello Gandini. Gandini would go on to create some stunning designs such as the Lamborghini Miura and Countach and the Lancia Stratos.

The car was first displayed at Geneva Motor Show in March 1966,

The FT being in honour of Dr Ferruccio Tarchini who had founded the Italian dealership that sold them.

"This first car was shipped over to Browns Lane at some point, probably over the summer of 1966, and among those who examined it was body engineer Cyril Crouch, who still retained fond memories of it nearly thirty years later:

I thought that was an excellent job they made of that; a beautiful paint finish, I remember, a greyish finish … metallic grey. This metallic was rather different to the metallics we know now. I immediately associated it with these rather wonderful marble gravestones that you see; it was a sort of marble effect rather than the spatter of a metallic. It was quite intriguing! The seats were red. It was a very elegant-looking car. I took it out on the road, and was very pleased with it. I was very sorry that we weren’t going to continue with it. It was a one-off [not so] and I think we were a little unfair when we said it wasn’t particularly good … that could have been overcome. I personally liked the car very much. I think they did an excellent job on it and their coachbuilding was really excellent – which they are renowned for, of course."

13 "chassis" were sent to Italy. Nobody to this day knows whether all the cars were built. They keep coming out of the woodwork. Most recently from Spain.

 

well I just realized the S type rear wheel arches are the same as in the XJ.

 

Glyn's photos show clearly the essential elegance of the S-Type (a trait that virtually all Jaguars have in common) in contrast to the essential clumsiness of the Bertone designs. The Jaguar still looks beautiful more than 5 decades on while the Italian designs look simply awkward, the roof in particular being poorly integrated into the design. I recognize that opinions like this are purely personal and that others may well disagree.

 

yes Gregory, too much roof and glass.

 

This is a Bertone "concept" that Jaguar should have built as an XJ replacement. It is a damn side better looking than anything Ian Callum has come up with apart from possibly the F Type.

 

looks just like a modern XK.
Who stole from who?
Also looks like Bertone learned about lowering roof lines.

 

We are talking about 5 decades later. This time Bertone was first. I believe they influenced Callum with the F Type. I think Callum's best ideas ended up at/influenced Aston Martin.

Bertone has designed some beautiful looking cars. The FT was not one of them. I only showed them because they show just how short the wheelbase was. The FT does not look like a Jaguar. The above concept could not be mistaken as anything else. Just needs badges.

Rob (Cass) wants to build a LWB S Type.

 

So right...it is mouth-wateringly gorgeous in every aspect and very "Jaguar" in the traditional design language of the marque. Too bad it was not adopted. i especially like the centre-opening rear doors. My Mum used to drive Lincoln Continentals in the 60's - very elegant, solid cars, and like the Mercurys of the very early 50's, they had the centre-opening doors. I can tell you that it made for far more easy ingress and exit from the back seat, especially for women. Simple, elegant, luxurious and fuel consumption was an astounding 8 miles per Imperial gallon (4.4 litres):

 

MMMMMMMMM. say no more.

 

For me, the 1960s suggestions are standard Italian of the time, sold to everyone, and nothing like as good as the original S type. However, the later concept for the XJ replacement is fabulous, better than anything that Callum produced. I'm not enthusiastic for his work. He could do a good coupe, but for the rest ... . I would have preferred to see Keith Helfet take Jaguar's design forward. He had the the DNA and knew how to look to the future.

 

Yes ~ I think there was a bit of "not designed here" involved when Bertone pitched their concept to Jaguar. I remember Jeremy Clarkson going weak at the knees on an old Top Gear when he saw the Bertone concept & saying "God I hope they build it" It's fabulous.