Plenty happened in 2024. 

President Trump secured a disputed second term, Keir Starmer and the Labour Party were elected into power at number 10, Team GB achieved 65 medals during the Paris Olympics, Lewis Hamilton joined Ferrari, and Taylor Swift launched the most successful music tour in history.

However, the response to these occurrences was overshadowed by the reaction to British automaker Jaguar. Last year, they dramatically transformed their century-long history with a divisive rebranding, opting to abandon their renowned big cat emblem.

This transformation kicked off in November with the release of a new ‘brand identity.’ The unveiling featured a 30-second video on social media that emphasized originality with the slogan ‘copy nothing’ and ‘delete ordinary,’ showcasing a range of unique models without featuring a single car. 

This triggered a – mostly angry – reaction from every man and his dog, with Nigel Farage, Elon Musk and Rory Sutherland casting their verdict on what was widely dubbed a ‘woke’ move by the legendary British marque.

Then in December, Jaguar unveiled the Type 00 design vision concept at Art Basel in Miami – a super coupe that’s a ‘result of brave, unconstrained creative thinking, and unwavering determination’. And nothing like Jaguar fans had ever seen before – or anyone for that matter.

Now in the heatwave summer of 2025, after a schedule of high-profile public appearances, the Type 00 has arrived at Goodwood Festival of Speed for its highly anticipated UK public debut.

And This is Money’s Freda Lewis-Stempel got a first look up at it in the flesh. So, here are the five things to know about the Type 00 from our up close and personal observations – buckle up for the unexpected…

1. It will spearhead Jaguar’s decision to be an EV-only brand

Caught beneath the avalanche of social media and mainstream news agendas bemoaning Jaguar’s rebrand campaign calling it ‘woke’, is the important point that Jaguar is now an electric-only car brand.

Despite being renowned for its iconic engines – the XK in-line six and the V12 to name two of the most famous specimens – Jaguar is one of the first heritage car makers to fully commit to electric models from here on out.

After its hiatus period concludes in 2026 (Jaguar stopped selling cars for 12 months in the UK) the four-door GT that follows the Type 00 prototype will be the first of three new premium EV models the British brand brings to market.

The electric GT is the spearhead of Jaguar’s ‘Reimagine’ strategy that will make the Coventry brand fully electric and more upmarket luxury performance brand.

The announcement was first made by JLR in 2021, with 2025 the deadline date for the switch. Well, it’s stuck to that, and the Type 00 is living proof.

So, whatever you think of Jaguar’s rebrand, you can’t stay it does U-turns.

2. The E-Type link means Jaguar’s not completely done with heritage

If you’ve got the E-Type in the vault, you’d be silly to not reference it now and then, even if just subtly, because well you can.

The E-Type really made Jag. It arrived at the 1961 Geneva Motor Show out of nowhere, and was agreed to be one of the most beautiful cars ever made. Its icon status made Jaguar the manufacturer of desirable and beautiful sports cars.

And Jaguar Land Rover chief executive Adrian Mardell says they want the 00 to resurrect that ‘same sense of awe that surrounded famed models like the E-Type.’ Squint into the sunlight and there’s a touch of the E-Type about the Type 00’s silhouette and the sweeping fastback roofline.

The 00 name represents it being the first car in the new design line-up, and it’s zero emissions – ergo two zeros – as well as a nod to the old Jag’s sudden appearance on the scene.

3. It’s a digital detox on wheels

Lift those butterfly doors and you enter a futuristic take on a spar.

It’s so light and airy you feel like you should waft your way around the interior at all times, channeling your inner Chrissy Rucker.

A travertine stone plinth supports the seats and the centre spine that runs the length of the interior. The strikethrough motif makes its way inside onto the dash and behind the seats.

Three brass bars frame the cabin and accent against the muted white wool-blend seats and door panels. The brass hasn’t been treated so over time they’ll change cover – a sort of living Feng Shui we suppose?

Enhancing the Feng Shui further is the way that the two huge screens fold up into the dash – the digital detox in action – with just essential information displayed on a thin screen at the bottom of the windshield.

Adjusting interior features like ambient lighting and screen displays requires you to select a ‘totem’ physical key, made from brass, travertine and alabaster, from the Type 00’s ‘prism case’ and slot it into the central cubby.

4. The Type 00 will not be sold in a traditional showroom

Well it is a prototype so not being sold is expected. The production GT however will be.

But the Type 00 unveil also comes with Jaguar’s promise that, while it’s not ditching its current customers and dealers, it is ‘reframing the customer relationship’.

Jaguar  plans to slash its UK dealership network by around 75 per cent from 80 to around 20 concentrated in the most affluent areas – as part of its radical plans to go electric-only in 2026, selling around 60,000 cars a year of its new more expensive line up, say bosses.

The first of its curated brand stores will be located in Paris’ Golden Triangle, the 8th arrondissement fashion district.

We’re expecting a designer shopping experience – induvial appointments with champagne and amuse-bouche no doubt.

This tie-in with fashion, design and the designer mirrors Jaguar unveiling the Type 00 at Art Basel to connect with the younger, creative audience that attends the annual Miami art week.

5. Exuberant Modernism is the name of the Jaguar game

The four-door GT promises be a ‘copy of nothing’ – words Jaguar’s founding father, Sir William Lyons, memorably first said.

At over five metres long and carrying enough metal to rival the Eiffel Tower it certainly is a one-of-one.

The long bonnet, broad stance, clean shaved angles, square face and sleek rear haunches and slinky tail give a Rolls-Royce Specture meets Pink Panther look, especially in the ‘Rhodon Rose’ (or Miami Pink as it’s been redubbed) colourway.

Not to mention those 23-inch wheels to beef it up.

It teases what the real production GT will be like when it arrives in 2026.

The road car is rumoured to start from around £100,000 and to have a range of 430 miles from its electric motor.

Until it hits the streets we won’t know for certain, but expect it to be the most anticipated launch we’ve had in decades.

Public opinion on the new dawn of Jaguar – and why the brand is a believer that all publicity is good publicity 

Jaguar bosses admitted they happily courted controversy with the ‘exuberant’ but polarising rebranding and marketing campaign, and wanted to get the British brand ‘talked about’. 

The social media ad featured a diverse range of colourfully dressed models on a barren rocky pink alien landscape resembling Mars – but no actual car – with slogans such as: ‘create exuberant’, ‘live vivid’, ‘delete ordinary’.

It was designed to ‘shock, surprise and polarise’, and to ‘divide opinion’. 

So, Jaguar said it was a ‘mission accomplished’ but the rest of the world – marketing specialists, petrol heads and Jaguar owners, members of the general public, even MPs – dismissed it as ‘ridiculous’, ‘woke’, ‘weird’, ‘unhinged’, and ‘a car crash in slow motion.’ 

Leading classic Jaguar enthusiast and owner’ clubs accused Jaguar bosses of having a ‘death wish’ for the century-old firm.

Jaguar managing director Rawdon Glover said some of the criticism displayed a ‘level of vile hatred and intolerance’ and, in a pointed rebuttal of Reform Party leader Nigel Farage’s prediction that Jaguar ‘will now go bust’, said: ‘The average age of the Jaguar client is quite old and getting older. We’ve got to access a completely different audience.

‘That audience isn’t centred around people of the demographic of Mr Farage.

Executives say they are starting from ‘a clean sheet’ to reinvent the company because most of its future customers, it argues, don’t even know about current Jaguar or its rich heritage

And, as with any good gamble ever made, there is ‘no plan B’.