AUTO MODIFIED 2011

Is Jaguar's F-Type, unveiled today, a worthy successor to the famed E-Type of the 1960s -- the most sinewy Jag sports car ever? We're not sure. We'll have to wait until we can see this one in person. There are hopeful signs. It has an aluminum body, some of the same special looks as the E-Type. The Associated Press points out that just for nostalgia buffs, the F will have old-fashioned rotary knobs for controlling the heating and ventilation. It will pack plenty under the hood, either a supercharged 3-liter 6 cylinder engine with 340 horsepower for the normal F-type or 380 horsepower for the S. Tops will be the 5-liter V-8 with 495 horsepower. That one will go from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 4.2 seconds. "What is a sports car? It's a race car that you can drive on the road," Adrian Hallmark, the head of the Jaguar global brand, said Thursday at the car's official launch. "With the F-Type we tried to keep it pure." The V-6 starts at $69,000 and the V-8 begins at $92,000 when it comes to the U.S.