Behold: the best looking car on sale today
Wind tunnels are a dime a dozen nowadays, and an essential part of sports car development. However, in the pursuit of speed and cornering grip, the classic proportions and smooth design flows have been taken away from the best of the best. The Ferrari F12 tdf, which grabs air by the scruff of the neck and channels it in devious ways to make the supercar corner faster, is quite honestly a hideous machine. The Lamborghini Veneno, supposedly the best Lamborghini can come up with now, is a messy combination of slats, ducts and razor sharp edges, leading to an overall design that can only be loved by a 6 year old. These two are apparently the manufacturers who made timeless beauties like the Ferrari Daytona and Lamborghini Miura.
It's not entirely the fault of the manufacturers – design preferences on the consumer end has gradually shifted to edgier, meaner, more hardcore cars, in everything from hatchbacks to hypercars. Very few cars on the road are classical, even fewer have proportions that might be considered beautiful in 20-30 years time…all except one glorious gem.
The slightly facelifted Jaguar F-type might just be the best looking car on sale today. It has the perfect combination of sleek lines and curves, with a purposeful stance that makes its intents known without any doubt. The long, sloping hood and cab-placed-at-the-back design is no doubt inspired by the original E-type, but that can never be a bad thing. It's all in the details – the slight creases running down two sides of the hood and continuing onto the flush headlights, the shape of the fender vents that ensures the "Jaguar" lettering on them is perfectly lit when light falls from above, the muscular yet subtle crease above the side skirts.
The F-type is the only car currently sold that is comprehensive in its design, to the point where the design of a single panel or elements in an angle can't be singled out as unnecessary or excessive. You'll end up loving every bit of it, and you can only pick favourites. For me, the sleek rear lights and subdued design of the rear panels is the best example of restraint in an automotive design industry seemingly populated by extroverted 12 year olds. That is rare in these times, and the F-type will be a future classic for precisely that reason.
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