New Jaguar F-Type leaks out UPDATED

With the new Jaguar F-Type Roadster due to get its first outing at Paris 2012, we have the first photo leak.

Update: Jaguar has released the above photo of the new Jaguar F-Type officially after this leaked photo. So now it’s official – this is the 2013 Jaguar F-Type. And it does look better once the photo is bigger (click the photo for bigger version), but the darkened background to the headlight does still contrive to make the front three-quarters of the F-Type look like a 370Z and ‘flatten’ the curve in to the front wings. And the bonnet vents do seem almost a token affair. But we’re probably nit-picking.

The new Jaguar F-Type – a car Jaguar wants to think of as the spiritual successor to the E-Type – has been floating around roads with camouflage for months. But now, just a week ahead of its debut at Paris, the first photo has leaked out.

What we see in the photo – which looks genuine to us – is a trio of F-Types in silver, black and red and, probably, with a variety of the engines on offer – two versions of the new V6 Supercharged and one V8 Supercharged.

What we see is similar to the C-X16 concept that previewed the F-Type, but what seems to have happened is an influx of design from the Nissan 370Z going on. The headlights that looked good on the concept now seem less than appealing with their dark outlines.

The boldness of the stance seems to have been watered down – perhaps it’s the smaller alloys – and the vents in the bonnet look a bit small and insignificant, but the rest of the C-X16 design cues seem to be there.

We’ll have to wait for a proper look at Paris before we moan too much that Jaguar hasn’t delivered all the promise of the concept. Because the F-Type does hold much promise and will probably look far better in the flesh than these first photos.