A decade ago, the Jaguar F-Type returned a true sports car to the automaker’s showrooms 40 years after the last E-Type was built. And now, the final curtain is coming down on what will be Jaguar’s last internal-combustion sports car before the company switches to an all-EV lineup. When introduced, the F-Type won the World Car Design of the Year award. Performance covered a wide gamut, with a rip-roaring 575-horsepower supercharged V8 at the top. For the final year, that engine defines the F-Type R75 models and takes them into the sunset.
The legendary Jaguar XK-120, first introduced in 1949, has played an important role in sports car lineage, both in terms of styling and performance. A very early alloy-body XK-120 (chassis number 670019), will be offered at Gooding & Company’s Pebble Beach auction, with a pre-sale estimate of $250K-$300K.
According to Hagerty’s tally, the sales total of $247.8 million in Scottsdale was down 5 percent from 2017. The highest sale of the week was $8,085,000 for a one-of-a-kind 1965 Ferrari 275 GTB built by Pininfarina. Premier previewed five of the Scottsdale 2018 auction cars in depth before the auctions. Here’s a look at the results.
Many auto aficionados no doubt resonate with the idea of a thread running through a carmaker’s timeline and model history, one that then defines the marque’s heritage. Marketing departments sometimes overplay heritage, of course. The best messengers for heritage should be cars that deftly blend a sense of history with their modernity. Call it retro done right.