Bertone B99 Jaguar design concept | CarAdvice

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Bertone B99 Jaguar design concept

By Brett Davis |
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German automotive publication Autobild has released some images and details of Bertone’s new design study. The Bertone B99 is a concept pitched towards Jaguar and the new compact car it plans to make. Unfortunately, the Bertone B99 is unlikely to be the basis for the upcoming small Jag.

For those of you who aren’t aware of Bertone’s work, Bertone has come up with some of the finest-looking pieces of automotive exotica the world has ever seen – masterpieces like the original 1967 Lamborghini Muira, Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta, Lancia Stratos, Ferrari 308, Lamborghini Countach and the more-recent Lamborghini Diablo.

The company has also come up with loads of other designs for Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Lancia, Jaguar and Aston Martin, over the 99 years the company has been around. It’s also seen as the main rival to Pininfarina, another Italian automotive design company.

To mark the company’s 99th anniversary, it has come up with this B99 design study. The B99 takes much inspiration from the flat-and-fat Jaguar XJ sedans of years gone by, as well as some design cues from the 1996-2006 Jaguar XK Series in the headlight and taillight layout.

It may look large but it’s actually quite small and measures around 4.5 metres in length and 1.95 metres in width. The car is very low, with a height of just 1.35 metres – an aspect that probably gives the impression that the car has much larger proportions. It is actually a four-door sedan, too, featuring suicide doors at the rear and frameless doors all round.

It’s an interesting design to say the least, featuring modern details such as LED lights and curvy panel contours, but it also showcases plenty of Jaguar pedigree. What do you think?

The Bertone B99 Jaguar Concept will be on display at the Geneva Motor Show in a coupe of weeks, we look forward to bringing you more details on it then.

  • Peter

    That really tickles my fancy

  • Ethan

    If current crop of Jags are anything to go by that silhouette is all wrong… it is harking back to the ye olde world Jag profile, which I think Ian Callum is trying to move away from…

    • brent

      Ditto – I drive a current Jag and I think this has way too much S-Class etc…..in it. As Ethan says , why would they go backwards when they’ve only just started to break away from the much criticised heritage look.

    • Jimmy

      Yeah you’re right, Ethan. That old shape is dead and buried. It’s a nice design but it’s not the “modern Jag” design language.

  • NacaYoda

    Looks fantastic. But it has a ‘small’ interior or it is mega wide. Limited back seat leg room might not appeal the the target market.

  • DGS

    if jag took that design on, and did not tone it down, it would work,so long as it still has a performing drivetrain (rebodied ford focus 2 litre any one? I think not)

  • Shane

    Great design, I think it would look better as a large GT style car than a small car

  • Valet Dabess

    the front and the back look the same

  • Mikey

    In profile it remindes me of the 2 door XJ, series 2 I think it was..

  • Luke

    With suicide doors, that’s a winner.

    Love how it has some of the DNA of the older Jags.

  • Octavian

    Inspired a little by the Alfa Romeo 2uettottanta concept perhaps?

  • Judge

    Mikeys right; there is clear DNA from the ’70s XJC two door coupes. Yes it’s a retro move stylewise, but I’d give that sexy yet somehow pumped up cat room in my garage in a heartbeat!!

  • Westie

    If Jaguar had applied this degree of modernisation to it’s design language ten years ago, they could have easily evolved their look in the manner of Audi, Volvo, Mercedes and even BMW. (A Bangloid Bimmer still looks like a Bimmer because it retains so many trad cues amongst the ugly).
    Instead, they let Jaguar design rot with the XJ, XK, S Type and X Type to the point that there is no value left in the look in the public eye.
    This car shows where Jaguar could have been. Instead, they have backed themselves into a design corner, and have been forced to totally divorce themselves from their past. The result is the forced style of the XF and latest XJ.
    Shame, really.
    Imagine this car stretched over a LWB XJ platform released as the previous generation XJ, against Bangle 7 series and block o’ flats S class.

  • Michael

    Gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous! One of the best concepts I’ve ever seen. From side on the front quarter reminds me of the Maserati Quattroporte actually.

  • AnnK21

    lovely

  • Ox

    Refreshing to see an upright C pillar for a change. This is how jags should look like

  • Fred

    I have owned several Jaguars – mostly older models by the time I could afford them – but I think that it looks absolutely stunning. I look forward to seeing one in the flesh but, at my time of life, that will be as close as I will get. Sad.

  • Neville

    This is what the new XJ should have looked like. I have purchased 9 brand new xj’s on the trot and I hung on to the last one because I absolutely hate the look of the new ‘Audi’ shape.
    Bring the Bertone body to Jaguar and they will get at least one customer back.
    In the meantime, I have spent thousands ensuring that my X350 will continue to give me good service until I find something that I like to replace it.