Cast your mind back to November 2024, and you'll remember a controversial Jaguar advert that had no cars in it. To say it melted the comments section would be an understatement. Even Elon Musk waded in. But Jaguar doubled down and pulled the covers off its Type 00 concept in Miami, showing two low-slung GTs, one blue and one pink, that laid bare the UK carmaker's bold intentions.

Cue even more comments and speculation, but now comes the moment of truth. Welcome to the car that crashed the internet. Welcome to the production-ready Jaguar Type 01.

The Type 01 has three electric motors, 1,016bhp, up to 450 miles of range and 50:50 weight distribution.

"It's felt like a long time coming," says Rawdon Glover, Jaguar's managing director, speaking at a sneak preview at the carmaker's headquarters in Gaydon, UK. "It's a relief, actually, just to be able to talk openly."

The Type 01 has three electric motors, 1,016bhp, up to 450 miles of range and 50:50 weight distribution. Oh, and it is the most powerful and aerodynamic Jaguar yet. It costs around £125,000, roughly twice what the brand used to ask for its cars.

That means expectations are high, and so they should be. As Glover says, the Type 01 has been a long time coming and the global car community is keen to know whether the future of one of the best-loved brands is in safe hands.

Opinions on the design will differ, but Jaguar doesn't see that as a bad thing. "For some that's hugely attractive, and for others it's probably a bit too much, and that's absolutely fine," says Glover. "Its job isn't to be our volume seller. Its job is to make people reappraise what they think of Jaguar."

That explains why the marque decided to start with a long, low statement grand tourer, rather than defaulting to an SUV. Aimed at the "white space" between top-end premium and luxury marques, the Type 01 will go up against the recently launched electric Bentley Torcal, Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door Coupe and the Porsche Taycan, now seven years old. Jaguar expects most buyers will be new to the brand. Think younger, urban types looking for something unconventional. Some 50,000 people have already asked to be kept informed about the car’s progress.

True to Jaguar's 'Copy Nothing' strapline, the Type 01 is a unique proposition. You could say the windowless rear is like a Polestar 4, the imposing front and sheer expanses of metalwork are a little like a Rolls-Royce Spectre, and its sporting stance is akin to a Porsche Taycan, but few cars are packaged with the same presence as the Jaguar. It's a proper villain's car, much as the Jaguar Mk2 became the getaway driver's car of choice in the 1960s.

Inside, it's snug. This is a two-plus-two with rear doors, not a limousine, so don't expect to stretch out in the back. Screens have been put in their place, with a 24-inch driver's display integrated into the dash and an iPhone-sized screen in the middle, sitting proud of the central spine running from front to back.

This is a two-plus-two with rear doors, not a limousine, so don't expect to stretch out in the back.

Jaguar has paid close attention to the materials, from Kvadrat wool-blend textile to leather and Ultrafabrics' lightweight NeoGrain. The brass trim that featured on the concept has been switched out for brass-effect anodised aluminium in the name of weight-saving and practicality. At 5.2 metres long and with a 118kWh battery, every little counts when the total weight is 2.7 tonnes.

Why electric, when much of the luxury world is drifting back towards big engines? Jaguar reckons a fifth of buyers will reject anything with a combustion engine, and Glover believes somebody will "break that glass ceiling of EV at this price point. I guess my question is, why not Jaguar?"

A central spine divides the cabin into four individual seats, flanked by brass-effect anodised aluminium trim.

Nearly two years after it caused a global commotion, all eyes are on Jaguar as it reveals the first car of its bold new era. A lot rests on the Type 01's broad, sculpted shoulders: more than a century of history and, more importantly, the future of a great British brand. Jaguar's story has seldom been dull. The latest chapter reads like none of the others, but it has been just as dramatic, if not always in the way Jaguar intended. So far, the Type 01 has done its job of challenging people's perceptions of what the brand can be. The final test will be how it drives. Until then, all eyes on the comments section. Again.

Jaguar maintains it’s a copy of nothing, and few cars are packaged with the same presence.

Jaguar

Type 01

£125,000.00

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