JAG I’D LOVE TO BAG GETS EVERYTHING RIGHT BUT PRICE

Jaguar tricked me once. It was 2013 and I was all set to order the new F-type Roadster after it had been launched at the Paris motor show.

It looked fantastic and Mrs Goodwin, who’s always loved Jags, was fully behind the purchase.

Even better, I’d had a firm press release before the show saying if the E-type, launched in 1961, was introduced today it would cost £38,000 allowing for inflation.

I took this as a hint the new car would be under 40 grand. And, with a PCP deal, in our reach.

Silly me. Jaguar shafted that plan by throwing the sheets off the car to reveal a price tag of £58,500.

Then to add salt to the wounds it launched a coupe version which I’ve always much preferred.

Seven years on, as I tested this new facelifted F-type, it took me back and the hunger bit again.

The 2013 entry-level model was powered by a supercharged 3.0-litre V6 engine that produced 340bhp – but the top spec versions then used Jag’s 5.0-litre V8.

The car got a first facelift in 2017 when Jaguar also fitted a 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine for the first time.

Now the V6 has got the chop but the V8s with either 444bhp or 567bhp (both supercharged) are both still available. As is the

296bhp 2.0-litre engine which is in the coupe we’re testing. At £54,060 it’s the cheapest F-type you can buy. And one of the nicest. Of course you don’t get the V8 firepower or its car chase sound effects, but you do get a car quick enough for the road and cheaper to run and buy.

And one, thanks to a saving of

Bentley will only build 12 of these roofless specials which are designed to look different to the firm’s other models. It’s called the Bacalar and doesn’t share a single exterior body panel with any existing Bentley car which goes some way to explaining the £1.5million price tag. The Bacalar is powered by Bentley’s 6.0-litre W12 engine tuned to 650bhp which is 41bhp more than standard. I love the Bacalar’s style but I doubt any of us will ever see one on the road as they’ll end up in garages in the Middle East or Beverly Hills.