Grace, space and pace

The Jaguar F-Pace Pure 2.0 is the British brand’s response to the SUV trend taking the world by storm

- Stephen Smith

There’s something about Jaguar, both the brand and its cars, that speaks of exclusivity. Jaguar exudes class and is somehow more prestigious than even the big German premium-car manufacturers. Tell someone you drive a BMW and they’re vaguely impressed. Tell them you drive a Jaguar and they assume you’re landed gentry, a relative of Lord Grantham with a home in the country. They also assume you walk your golden retriever every afternoon wearing tweed and discussing the peasants. Sorry – pheasants.

This means that the inevitable first step Jaguar has taken into the SUV market has already been a successful one. I drove the entry-level F-Pace Pure (although using the term ‘entry-level’ here is stretching the boundaries a bit considering that it costs more than R750 000),and having spent some time behind the wheel I couldn’t believe this 

It might be called an SUV, but the emphasis is most definitely on the ‘sport’ and it is more a raised version of a Jaguar sedan than anything else. With design cues lifted from the F-Type sports car and the sumptuous interiors of the Jag sedans, there is no mistaking that this is a member of the modern Jaguar family.

Beauty comes at a price though, and in this case it is visibility. The sloped rear and smallish windows of the F-Pace make seeing out of it a bit tricky at times, especially when you’re reversing.