Rare F-Pace Sighting Today on A303

[F@tBoyF@t]

On the way to the Arsenal v Sunderland FA Cup match yesterday (Saturday) I was tooling along the A303 towards London. I noticed & heard (it definitely had a sports exhaust) a new Jaguar F-Pace in my rear view mirror. My co-pilot who has no interest in cars whatsoever looked at me a bit funny when I pulled out to follow the F-Pace and clock a closer look. It was in a rather nondescript white paintwork, and other than clear plastic covering the bonnet (untidily) and also the sills it had none of that camouflage you usually see on prototypes. It was running LHD on what looked like Italian "prova" plates 180012 - I think.

It was, I think the 3.0 V6 375bhp, supercharged petrol engine going by the way it spooled up quite quickly for such a big vehicle.

I'd recently "built" an F-Pace on the Jaguar website as I have been toying with the idea of selling my RS4 Avant after nearly five years of ownership. However nothing prepared me for the sheer size of this 4x4, given that it is based on the chassis of the new XE. I thought that it would be a Q5/Macan-sized 4x4 but it's more like a Cayenne in size. The rear window is postage stamp-sized, which seemed strange in such a big car, but no doubt fellow Scot, Ian Callum has got it spot on as he usually does?

We paced each other for about 40 miles until he peeled off onto the A34 Newbury road, perhaps on his way to, (and I'm only surmising here, but......) Williams Advanced Engineering at Wantage is only 30 minutes up the road, and I have it on good authourity that they are preparing an electric F-Pace as a show-car for Jaguar coming to a motor show in April/May.