Jaguar F-Type V6 S

Jaguar F-Type V6 S

Engine: 2,995cc, V6, supercharged

Power: 375bhp and 339lb.ft. of torque

Performance: 0-62mph in 4.9 seconds and 171mph

Economy: 31mpg (combined)

CO2 emissions: 213g/km

Price: £67,520

But few of the fireworks that were being let off in back gardens and on playing fields across the borough can have garnered as much anticipation as the brawny British roadster.

Afterall, bonfire night comes once a year. It has been half a century since Jaguar last brought us a truly focussed convertible sports car.

More than 13 years have passed since the first F-Type concept was revealed — marking out Jaguar’s early intent to take on Porsche’s Boxster — and a further two years since the C-X16 concept broke cover at the Frankfurt Motor Show.

After a week at the wheel it is also clear that Jaguar have neatly side-stepped a direct confrontation by making their two-seat drop-top a very different car to the established market leader.

The car I got to grips with was the mid-range F-Type three-litre V6 S.

Priced at £67,520 it costs almost £20,000 than a Boxster S with the PDK dual-clutch gearbox (£48,034).

Jaguar’s front-mounted (as opposed to the mid-engined Boxster) three-litre supercharged V6 delivers 375bhp at 6,500rpm and 339lb.ft. of torque between 3,500 and 5,000rpm.

That’s enough grunt to accelerate to 62mpg in 4.9 seconds and on to a 171mph top speed, edging it just 0.1 second ahead of the German in the benchmark sprint but 1mph slower all-out, despite a power advantage of 60bhp and 134lb.ft. of torque.

The Jaguar’s problem its its near-300kg extra girth.

On the road this manifests itself in a feeling that the F-Type lacks the outright agility and of the Boxster but feels more planted.

The tiny degrees of chassis balance that can be manipulated to have the Boxster dancing down a b-road in intoxicating style are not there.

With a hyper-direct front end which is blessed with a huge level of grip and a rear that has a wondrous ability to be driven on the throttle, it is an accurate and uncompromising tool.

Understeer is all-but irradiated as the F-Type’s set-up seems set up to exploit the lustrous grunt of its supercharged motor.

With Jaguar’s Dynamic button prodded on the centre console a popping overrun and whip-crack sound effects gear-changes are truly grin inducing.

The brawny British hooligan is packed with character and race-car vocals.

Inside, there is a greater level of premium comfort than the Boxster too.

While the large, flat-bottomed steering wheel initially feels cumbersome, ample seat adjustment makes the driving position spot-on.

A copper coloured engine start button which pulses red prior to firing and identically coloured paddle shifters are a neat touch, along with the dials which assume a red hue when Dynamic mode is engaged.

Comfort and refinement are greater than the Boxster, a reasonably supple ride firming up automatically at speed.

The folding fabric roof can dropped or raised at speeds of up to 50mph, meanwhile.

A rather pokey 196-litre boot and optimistic 31mpg fuel economy claim do make the F-Type a less practical and more expensive long-term proposition than the Porsche, though.

The F-Type and Boxster are undeniably direct rivals, but their price and characters could not be more different.

The F-Type is immediately attractive to most petrolheads and pedestrians and its brutish soundtrack fits its front-engined, rear-wheel-drive layout to a tea.

In contrast, the subtle Porsche offers greater dynamic depth but its rewards are less conspicuous.

Jaguar have majored on easily accessible thrills, the kind that prompt many people to fire colourful light artillery into the night sky once a year.

I’d much rather be enjoying the F-Type’s fireworks at road level.