A Jaguar F-Type convertible, as seen in the great Chinese city of Shenzhen in 2014. The British sports car was brand new and looked brilliant in this fiery red color, which Jaguar called ‘Salsa Red’.
Production of the Jaguar F-Type started in 2013, so the car I saw was likely one of the first in China. It has a temporary license plate registration behind the window of the black convertible top. The pop-up rear spoiler is raised for extra racyness.
The Jaguar F-Type was officially sold in China. The 3.0 model was powered by a 3.0 liter supercharged V6 engine, mated to an 8-speed automatic gearbox. It had an output of 335 hp and 450 Nm, good for a 260 km/h top speed and 0-100 in 5.3 seconds. It was very expensive, with a base price of 848.000 yuan. But that was still ‘affordable’ compared to the 5.0 V8 version of the convertible, which sold for 1.49 million (!) yuan.
That was a lot of money for China in 2014, and open-top cars have never been very popular, so the F-Type Convertible has always been a rare car on the road. Note the Volkswagen Santana 3000 taxis in the background. These are all gone now, replaced by EVs. The Jaguar F-Type is still in production today, powered by a 2.0 turbo, a 3.0 supercharger, or a 5.0 V8 supercharger.