But will it work?

‘Successful design is about desire’ Stephen Bayley

|n the history of art and design, few things are absolutely new. Everything is a version of something else. There was the Gothic Revival in 19th-century architecture, but really it was Gothic Survival. Gothic had never gone away. Apple’s iPod was inspired by a Dieter Rams radio designed for Braun nearly 50 years before.

And the gorgeous Jaguar XK120 was an evolution – a copy, you might say – of the shape Wilhelm Mayrhofer drew for the 1937 BMW 328 Mille Miglia. So when Gerry McGovern promises us a new Jaguar nd which owes nothing to any predecessor, he has set himself an audacious creative challenge. And given us something interesting to anticipate.

At Jaguar, McGovern inherited a contaminated brand. The precious image capital accumulated by a long tradition of racing success and beautiful cars was squandered by generations of milquetoast product planning, under-invested R&D and feebleminded management which all found expression in lacklustre design. |t is a long time since someone went to bed to dream of one day owning a Jaguar.

My brief to Gerry is: tickle the cerebral cortex. Successful design is about desire. Harley Earl, the most successful designer ever, knew this. He said you must give the customer a visual receipt for his money. For 50 years, Jaguar has short-changed its customers. Now Gerry McGovern has to prove the value of uninhibited creativity.

‘From £100k is surely not too ambitious’ Gavin Green

Jaguars must be desirable. When they’re not, they fail.

The current under-performing bunch are perfectly adequate cars, and in some ways rather good. But apart from the ageing F-Type and the underrated i-Pace, there is no desire.

New Range Rovers stand apart. That is why they succeed. New Jaguars conform. That is why they fail.

So, a wholesale ‘re-imagining’ – to use the JLR spiel – is needed. We’re told the new £100,000 electric four-door GT will look ‘jaw dropping’, a Marmite ‘love it or hate it’ car.

There are reasons to be cheerful. Designer Gerry McGovern has a track record for delivering stand-out premium cars. The success of the new Range Rover and new Defender – copies of nothing – show that JLR can do it. The ‘from £100,000’ price tag is surely not too ambitious. After all, the average big Range Rover sells for well north of that, and so do some Defender variants. And electric only? Pretty much everyone is doing that.

Plus, the storied Jaguar brand – which over the years has been stretched and sullied, butchered and battered – still has much good will, even among the young. Will the strategy work? |’m not sure and neither, | suspect, are JLR bosses. |t’s a high stakes gamble, completely dependent on the new cars’ want-one desirability.

But it’s either total reinvention or capitulation. The status quo was no option. The new four-door GT really is the last chance saloon.