UPDATE (July 7, 2015): Jaguar has uploaded a pair of videos to YouTube promoting Team Sky at the Tour de France, both showing the F-Pace support car in action. Videos are embedded after the text.
The first official photos of the 2017 Jaguar F-Pace crossover SUV (in prototype form) have just hit the web in a supporting cast role. Cast as the official support vehicle for the Team Sky cycling team competing in the 2015 Tour de France, Jaguar, in good taste, prove to the world that subtlety can be much sexier than in-your-face, guns blazing reveals.
The F-Pace is based on Jaguar’s C-X17 concept that was rolled out in Frankfurt two years ago and earlier this year, spy photos of the F-Pace leaked onto the web, but Jaguar did a fantastic job of hiding its shapely figure and gorgeous lines under all that camouflage and Land Rover body panels.
From what we can see in the photos, the F-Pace is mostly uncovered aside from a vinyl wrap that keeps a little of the F-Pace’s complete shape and presence from being fully exposed but even with the wrap over Jaguar’s first SUV, the character lines, and trim pieces are fully on display.
The front facade is unmistakably Jaguar with the slightly-rounded rectangular mesh grille slotted in between the sleek, narrow, sexy headlights and like the F-Type, hood creases start at the edge of the headlights and continue up to the A-pillar bases. The side profile is also quite Jaguar – with a rather rounded shape instead of using a sharp crease character lines towards the top half of the doors like the current trend with most SUVs.
There are no new shots of the F-Pace’s rear end in this subtle reveal. We’ve seen a teaser image of the taillights earlier this year and from that, it seems that Jaguar is staying mostly true to the good-looking C-X17 concept.
No new information has been released on the F-Pace but we do know the 2017 F-Pace will be based on the iQ architecture, also found in the new Jaguar XF. The iQ platform is aluminum-intensive to keep the weight low while retaining strength and rigidity.
As far as engine options go for the first year, expect a 2.0L turbo four-cylinder and the supercharged 3.0L V6 with an eight-speed automatic gearbox for North America. As far as drive wheels go, expect RWD or AWD options as well. Perhaps we’ll see later model years with the availability of the V8.
Expect Jaguar to reveal the F-Pace later this year with more details to come before then.
