Jaguar F-Type 4WD spied

These latest spy shots show that Jaguar is cooking up an all-wheel drive versions of the F-type sport car. The pictures show a pair of F-types – one a coupe, the other a roadster, wearing camouflage over the front half. The disguise attempts to hide a pronounced hump in the bonnet, not seen on existing F-types.

The humpbacked bonnet is believed to indicate that Jaguar’s engineers have slightly raised the mounting points for the supercharged V6 and V8 engines, allowing them to squeeze in a front differential and driveshafts underneath the powerplant.

Jaguar has previous experience here: it now offers all-wheel drive variants of the XF and XJ saloons in cold-weather markets like North America and Russia, which aim to compete with the BMW xDrive range, Mercedes 4Matic family, and of course, the familiar quattro range from Audi.

Plus, the new Jaguar XE saloon, which will arrive in showrooms in spring 2015, and Jaguar’s first SUV due in 2016, will be available with all-wheel drive as well as rear-wheel drive in most global markets.

Adding all-wheel drive to the F-Type would give Jaguar a credible all-weather performance contender to worry the likes of the Porsche 911 Carrera 4 S, and quattro-drive Audi R8. Superior acceleration times compared to the rear-drive F-type family would naturally position the 4x4 F-Types as the pricier, more serious models within the growing F-Type family.

Meanwhile, Maserati announced yesterday that its new Alfieri coupe and convertible, which will enter production in 2016 and 2017 respectively, will be offered in both rear-drive and all-wheel drive configurations.