Jaguar kicks off promotional activities for the F-TYPE (w/VIDEOS)

Last week American singer songwriter Lana Del Rey performed her new track, ‘Burning Desire’, to an audience of VIP’s in the gardens of the 18th century Musée Rodin in Paris. It marked the beginning of a global programme to promote Jaguar’s new F-TYPE, the company’s first two-seater sports car since the iconic E-type was launched more than 50 years ago.

The song, which will feature on Lana’s new album “Born To Die: The Paradise Edition”, was written as part of her collaboration with F-TYPE and will become the soundtrack to a new short film created in conjunction with Ridley Scott Associates.

The film starring Emmy Award winning actor Damian Lewis, is scheduled to be filmed in South America next month and released in early 2013.

All we know at this stage is the film tells a “genuinely surprising story” for a brand like Jaguar, which could mean anything from it being set in a Swedish Steam Bath (the ‘burning’ part) to some sort of Bond-like chase story (the ‘desire’ part). Perhaps it will contain both.

Jaguar tell us they are hoping to talk more about the film around the time of LA Show, at the end of November, 2012.

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While some observers clearly love the new F-TYPE, others are less than convinced by its profile, the absence of a manual of double-clutch transmission and the general sense that, despite Jaguar’s promise of it being attractively priced (like the E-Type was in the 1960s), it’s unlikely to fit in the same budget of someone considering a Porsche Boxster.

To recap, the 335bhp V6 F-TYPE retails at £58,500, rising to £67,500 for the F-TYPE S, and £79,950 for the 488bhp F-TYPE V8 S.

In an interview with AutoGuide.com, Jaguar’s Vehicle Line Director, Ian Hoban said that the F-TYPE would fill ‘white space’ in the sports car sector where other brands had failed.

“If you look at the sports car segment there are generally two categories,” said Hoban. “There are full size sports cars like the 911 and R8 and then there are compact sports car like the SLK, Boxster and Z4.”

The F-Type, on the other hand “delivers the performance of a full size sports car but in a package that’s smaller.”

The F-TYPE V8 S shown in Stratus Grey.

At the time of the F-TYPE’s launch last week, we lacked any information on the car’s weight, however we now know the entry-level F-TYPE – the 335bhp supercharged V6 tips the scales at 1,597kg, the 375bhp F-TYPE S weighs 1,614kg and the 488bhp F-TYPE V8 S comes in at 1,665kg.

To put that into perspective, the £47,306 311bhp Porsche Boxster S weighs 172kg less at 1,425 kg, while the £82,334 345bhp Porsche 911 Cabriolet weighs around 50kg less at 1,545 kg.

The F-TYPE is around the same size as a 911 (4,470mm vs 4,491 mm), with the Boxster some 4-inches shorter, so perhaps we should compare it with the 911 in order to perceive it’s relative market value.

While we’re providing an update on the F-TYPE, it’s worth taking a look at this new gallery showing pictures taken for Jaguar North America. They provide an encouragingly different perspective to the stills distributed by Jaguar’s global media team and may just convince you to join the 1,000 or so buyers who’ve already placed a deposit.

Gallery