Ian Callum, Jaguar's Director of Design, was adamant that the F-Type shouldn't be a retro throwback to the iconic E-Type. He admits: "of course the E-Type was in the back of our minds when we designed it, but I told my team to forget about it," countering pressure from Jaguar insiders to replicate the famously curvaceous shape of the machine from the Sixties. That E-Type is, as Callum says: "beautiful, but it's of an era, when you see the cars together you can see that one is now and one is then."

"If you want an E-Type then buy an E-Type," suggests Callum, as the F-Type is a different proposition. Still a sports car though, that's obvious, and Callum defines the sports car as the "art of our industry." He describes the F-Type's design as "from first principles," Callum admitting that "any similarities [between the E and F] are the result of first principles rather than trying to emulate something else". There are some signature styling cues, which, when you see the two cars side-by-side define lineage.

Callum isn't apologetic about this, singling out the tail lights as very evocative and very Jaguar, saying "if we're going to pull something from the past and use it as a point of inspiration then there's nothing wrong with that, as long as it stands with merit in its own right."

As Callum says you cannot use the past as an excuse for something, yet it is undeniable that the E-Type was a motivating factor in the development of the F-Type. Key to that push was Ratan Tata, Chairman of Tata Group, Jaguar Land Rover's owner. Unsurprisingly, Callum and his team at Jaguar of Matt Beaven, Julian Thompson and Alister Whelan had long toyed with the idea of a two-seater sports car, but when Tata Group acquired Jaguar the design team gained an ally.

Ratan Tata, says Callum, "bought into the brand," understanding that at the core of Jaguar is sports cars. Tata met Callum determined to produce a sports car and the project, which had until then had no place in the company's future planning, was fast tracked and added to the cycle plan. More than just pushing the decision he was hands on too, Callum admits that Ratan (who is a trained architect) influenced the way the headlights follow the line of the front wings and climb up the bonnet.

That fast tracking has seen the F-Type take just two and a half years to go from entering the cycle plan to being parked here alongside its relation. Will the F-Type captivate the way the E-Type has? The svelte lines of the 1960's roadster here are the stuff of dreams for its owner Nigel Harper. Realising the goal of owning an E-Type around seven years ago: "it's got to be 4.2, a roadster and a Series I." Nigel admits to admiring the F-Type, but only has eyes for his stunning Regency Red E-Type.

As Callum says the E is of an era, one unhindered by the myriad of regulations that define modern cars. That's perhaps why he's most keen on the F-Type's rear, joking it'll be the aspect most people see. It's also the place where designers have most freedom, the front needing to adhere to engine positioning, crash protection, lighting regulations and suchlike.

The Z folding fabric roof helps enormously with packaging the car. Crucial in a car the designer describes as being "stretched over the mechanicals." The only indulgence Callum allows is the line over the rear haunches, loving the purity of the form and the tapering to a defined conclusion at the rear. The F-Type is a car that Callum describes as a "happy car," and the first car he's worked on that he'd actually buy himself. If Jaguar can convince everyone else to do the same, it might just be onto a real hit.

Kyle Fortune. Photography by Antony Fraser. - 16 Apr 2013