I’ve been anticipating the Jaguar F-Type R Coupe ever since AUTOart made the announcement. The lines and sound of the car are just thrilling, and once I saw the beast featured on Top Gear, I just had to have one in my collection. Of course AUTOart saves the best colour for last, which is Firesand Metallic/Orange, which I believe is the original release colour. On to the model review…
I was bit concerned that AUTOart had issues with paint on their new composite direction models. Most of products to date that have made it to market were completed in Matte finishes or the boring basic colour stream. Well I’m happy to say the Firesand Metallic/Orange is just gorgeous in person. Paint is flawless from all directions and angles. Panel gaps and shutlines lines are excellent – the photos will highlight more. Though not an error, but a decision on AUTOart’s part to not move forward with the black roof/moon-roof. Come on AUTOart this is the “R” version, for the coolest fact alone this should have been standard equipment.
Overall the body lines of the original appear to be captured well, though I believe the front nose is either a little short or the pitch is slightly off – not a huge oversight for sure. Ride stance is a little high for my liking – a more romanticized approach would have been preferred.
Moving to the front, the fascia of the F-Type R Coupe is nicely executed. Perforated grilles are found in all areas and the badge work is nicely executed too. On the flip side I believe the headlights could have used a little more work. Improved materials for the headlight lenses and internal workings would have worked been better.
The rear is much like the front, excellent execution on all fronts. Major plus goes to the life-like exhaust tips and raised centre Jaguar emblem. The rear storage is also accessible on this model. It features a moveable shelf and fully carpeted surround. Where it fails is AUTOart deleted the hatch strut supports. This is definitely a cost cutting measure. Boo!
Thanks to user feedback I missed the biggest elephant in the room, the missing reverse lights. How do you explain the inserts without the clear covers? Also this was the last colour in the schedule, how do you not correct the error prior to production? AUTOart?
** UPDATE ** So I emailed AUTOart Germany for their perspective on this miss. Here’s their response: “The reverse lights were missed to be made by our engineers and the licensor ( Jaguar ) didn’t mention about the missing lights when they got a sample for approval.” This doesn’t make sense, I’m sure the miss was identified by collectors during the pre-production stage.
The F-Type R Coupe is powered by 5.0 litre V8 550PS supercharged engine with 680Nm of torque, 0-60 mph in 4.0 seconds, impressive! AUTOart version is surprisingly in good form when compared to the original. Most, if not all, the detail is mirrored nicely. Hood operation is completed with a simple two hinge method. Operation here is flawless. Where the model fail once again is the absence of the strut supports. Funny thing the pre-production sample models did have them in place. Oh AUTOart!
Back to the exterior, we look at the wheels, and here AUTOart went with the standard 20″ rollers. Well in my opinion the overall size is off. Also with the overwhelming wheel options available from Jaguar and the ‘R’ badge designation they should have chosen an optional wheel choice that better serves the race branding. I kept telling them via their Facebook posts, but like usual all fell onto deaf ears. Getting back to the standard wheels, the package, in usual AUTOart form, is delicious and well crafted – chrome finish is reminiscent of their old Dodge Viper.
The underbelly of the F-Type R Coupe was a surprise. There is much going on here as the photos will show – suspension, exhaust and mid-muffler are will represented. A nice touch based on price point.
The interior is completed in all Black with the Orange exterior it is fitting. All areas on the interior are appointed well and mirrors the original for the most part. Decals, painted detail complete the package. There are also fabric seat-belts and fully carpeted interior to boot. Well done AUTOart.
I’ll be honest with you, the Jaguar F-Type R Coupe from AUTOart impressed me more than I thought based on the initial images. The paint and overall detail is very impressive, other than the short-coming of the wheels I really enjoyed this model. Their immediate competition in 1:18 scale at the moment is the TopSpeed release of the same, though a difference in price of $40 (AUTOart being more). The AUTOart excels in the opening parts department, and to me that is paramount and worth the extra bucks. Enjoy the pics!
The rear reserving lights are still missing from the prototype to the production model. That left two ugly holes on the rear end it looks ugly. Topspeed is clearly the better choice to me.
Thanks for the information. Jeez what an oversight by them. I wonder why if missed it wasn’t corrected in later colours.
The whole thing, apart from the exterior perhaps, is shameful. The engine is made of 2 parts, the rims – who wants chrome rims on an F-type? This isn’t a corvette. The interior looks sad and is made of one part, not to mention I see a fat fingerprint on the right side of the dash. Apart from the opening parts, it’s got absolutely nothing else going for it. The TSM version looks off too, so it’s like this model is cursed.
My GF said she liked the wheels LOL. I caught the finger after the photo-shoot, The interior will riddled with them, lucky they cleaned away. Did they miss the ball on the full potential of the F-Type R, absolutely, but by no means in the model a POS. Though of you who choose resin over opening parts, I salute you.
The exterior looks obviously plastic.
The missing lights and hideous wheel color aside, I dont understand how the roof is still the base one and not carbon, black, or panoramic (like tsm). The car doesn’t look right with a painted roof. The light that the panoramic roof allows in also helps the look of the interior as well so i’d definitely go with the TSM version if it ever gets here
-_-
The carbon roof is another feature that was present on the Autoart prototype and got cancelled on the production version. Seems the development of that model is literally littered by wrong decisions, cost cutting measures and oversights. The final result besides its flawless paint job just reflects that, unfortunately…
Time and time again Autoart has cut their quality with this BS to deliver a subpar model for extreme pricing. The prices haven’t come down like they said, rather increased and cut detailing on interiors, engines, etc. I was passed when their vanquishes featured chrome wheels and lacked the carbon fiber roof and agree this model should as well. Their variety sucks, the only thing I like is they get the licenses for the cars I want. Everything else is junk lately.
Agri with all above, but not on the paint for the wheels.
They have a reallice nice metal, not chrome shine. Love it, just like what they did on the E46 M3!
And this is the reason why Autoart is a joke nowadays. You can get better detail on a Maisto exclusive or Hot Wheels Elite for half the price or less. Autoart Composite: -10/10 Would not recommend
Absolutely agree. Really enjoying the new diecast Bburago Bugatti Chiron’s detail and refinement, which made me wonder where the extra $280 that AUTOart charges goes?
Not to mention the biggest fail of all: the rear spoiler/ wing is not operable !!! Yes, even the F type has like SLR, R8, Enzo or 918, an electrically deployable wing to improve downforce at high speeds…
Exactly! The Aventador had it, the GTS Had it, the One-77 had it the CGT had it. Why not this?!?
Extremely rubbish!
I just say there are so many fails even a composite model.
It’s a low cheap model which cost around 200 dollars… Obviously It’s a joke
It should cost like a hq norev even less.