First look: New XK lurks within ALC concept

YOU’RE looking at Jaguar’s hotly anticipated, next-generation XK coupe.

Revealed as the Jaguar Advanced Lightweight Coupe show car in Detroit – six months before even the cosmetically facelifted version of the current XK arrives Down Under in mid-2005 - the concept is understood to closely resemble Jaguar’s all-new large coupe and convertible range that will launch globally in 2006.

Claimed to herald a new generation of Jaguar sports cars and sports sedans, the 2+2-seater JALC employs a high-tech lightweight aluminium structure like that introduced with the XJ large sedan.

While the ALC concept may look a lot like something sister Ford-owned company Aston Martin would produce, it also appears to be a logical and cohesive replacement for the current XK coupe/convertible - regarded by many as one of the automotive world's most beautiful shapes.

"The Advanced Lightweight Coupe represents the very essence of Jaguar, its heart and soul. If you want to know what lies ahead for us, what direction we will take – this is Jaguar's answer," said chairman and CEO of Jaguar Cars Joe Greenwell in Detroit.

While JALC’s engineering details remain unknown, Jaguar claims the vehicle will accelerate to 60mph in less than five seconds in unrestricted production form, before reaching a potential 290km/h top speed.

Along with claiming it introduces new intuitive driver technologies, the JALC press release states it’s a "beautiful, fast Jaguar, true to the brand’s past and future" that also "embodies sporting luxury and represents the future of Jaguar, as an ambassador for a marque whose reputation was founded on beautiful dynamic sports cars".