Despite some initial skepticism surrounding the car when it first burst into the scene back in back in 2013, the Jaguar F-Type has flipped the script on those narratives by making a compelling case as one of the most enjoyable sports cars on the market. That’s a testament to Jaguar, who saw the potential for the car and worked tirelessly to make it happen. Fast forward to today and the F-Type is still going strong with close to 15,000 units sold since it first entered the market. And so, as the F-Type prepares to enter the new year, Jaguar is throwing a handful of updates its way to go with the debut of the F-Type 400 Sport Launch Edition, a special edition variant that will only be available for 2018 F-Type models.

The F-Type 400 Sport Launch Edition comes with special indicators that should let customers know that they’re buying a variant of the sports car that’s going to be sold for only a short period of time. It’s hardly a surprise that Jaguar is making this move, in large part because it already has a number of F-Type variants on the market today. Instead of adding another one into the mix, it’s packaging it as a special edition that not only carries unique cosmetic features, but it also has a specific output that no other F-Type variant has. Judging by the name it’s been given, we can all venture a guess how much power this version of the F-Type is going to have.

It’s unclear though if Jaguar plans to sell the F-Type 400 Sport Launch Edition in all the markets where you can find F-Type models, although it did say that the model will be sold “worldwide, but for one model year only.” Expect more details to arrive regarding the availability of the F-Type 400 Sport Launch Edition in specific markets, but at least for Jaguar’s home market of the U.K., the special edition F-Type is scheduled to go on sale in the first quarter of 2017 at a starting price of £70,115, or around $85,360 based on current exchange rates.

Continue after the jump to read more about the Jaguar F-Type Sport 400 Launch Edition.

What makes the Jaguar F-Type 400 Sport Launch Edition so special

There are a number of different reasons why the Jaguar F-Type Sport 400 Launch Edition comes with that “special edition” label. The most obvious reason are its features, a lot of which are exclusive to this particular model. The exterior of the car, for example, comes with three unique body paint finishes: Yulong White, Santorini Black, and Indus Silver. In addition, the sports car also possesses exclusive, yellow and dark satin grey “400 Sport” badges that can be found in various sections of the car, including the front spoiler lip and in the rear section on the opposite end of the “F-Type” badge.

Move to the interior of the Sport 400 Launch Edition and you’ll be treated to more of the same exclusive looks, specifically the use of yellow contrast stitching on the black leather surfaces and more “400 Sport” branding, one of which can be found on the bottom of the car’s sports steering wheel.

The upgrades are minimal but it does follow a blueprint that Jaguar has used when it releases special edition versions of the F-Type. That blueprint largely revolves around a strategy of adding understated touches here and there without completely blowing up the sports car’s already appealing looks. We saw it this time last year when Jag introduced the F-Type British Design Edition, a special edition variant that benefitted from the automaker’s Sport Design Pack, hence the addition of a gloss-black front splitter, body-colored side sill extensions, body-colored rear venturi, and a fixed rear spoiler for the coupe version of the car. It also came with four unique colors – Caldera Red, Glacier White, Ultimate Black, and Ultra Blue – with the Ultra Blue hue representing a new color for the F-Type at that time. What really set the British Design Edition apart though were the unique monochrome Union Jack detailing it had that’s not too dissimilar from the 400 Sport badges that the F-Type 400 Sport Launch Edition is carrying now.

Note: Photo of the Jaguar F-Type British Design Edition.

Another particularly entertaining special edition F-Type was the F-Type Firesand, which is actually one of the earlier SE versions of the sports car that Jaguar released. The only thing worth noting about that particular version was the introduction of the “Firesand” paint finish, which has since become one of the most sought-after colors for the sports coupe.

While most of these special edition F-Types featured subtle upgrades at best, Jaguar has also thrown caution into the wind a couple of times with bold SE versions of the F-Type. Two, in particular, come to mind: the F-Type Coupe Tour de France Special Edition that featured plenty of graphics and a bike rack, among other things.

The other one is the F-Type Project 7, a car that was actually commissioned to Jag’s own Special Vehicles Operations to build, and to this day, is arguably the most sought-after version of the F-Type. It only came in 250 units and was priced at $165,925, which is still far and away the most expensively-priced F-Type in the sports car’s short history. Quantity and value aside, the F-Type Project 7 was defined by a lot of notable characteristics, none more significant than the rollover hoop positioned behind the driver’s seat. It’s the only version of the F-Type that has that design element, partly because it was put in place as a nod to the Le Mans-winning Jaguar D-Type, which celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2014. The F-Type Project 7 also received a rash of aerodynamic upgrades, all of which were put in place at the behest of Jaguar’s design boss, Ian Callum.

Note: photo of the Jaguar F-Type Project 7.

So where exactly does the Jaguar F-Type 400 Sport Launch Edition rank compared to past SEs of the sports car? The answer is actually high up there because of the car’s most important feature: a tuned version of the F-Type’s supercharged 3.0-liter V-6 upgrade that produces 400 horsepower and presumably around 345 pound-feet of torque. That represents a 20-horsepower increase from the F-Type S variant of the sports car. Jaguar didn’t announce the 400 Sport Launch Edition’s performance numbers, but considering the figures of the F-Type S, it’s not hard to imagine it hitting 60 mph in just 4.6 seconds with the standard eight-speed transmission before peaking at a top speed of around 173 mph.

For a simple comparison on how the F-Type 400 Sport Launch Edition compares in power and performance to other F-Type variants, feel free to check out the table below.

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