This year’s Paris Auto Show seems like it’s shaping up to be the place to debut British sports cars: first the Lotus Esprit, now this rumored concept from Jaguar. Reportedly inspired by the success of the Porsche 918 Spyder, the XK-sized coupe will probably not be headed for production; rather, it’ll be more of a styling exercise, heralding a new direction for Jaguar design and commemorating the brand’s history as a builder of gorgeous sports cars. One of the most notable changes of the new style will be a stockier grill, more like that of the XJ than the thin-lipped face of the current XK. Power may come from a hybrid powertrain with a turbocharged V6 and an eight-speed ZF automatic. Even if this concept doesn’t go into production (and if it’s as appealing to Jag-lovers as the 918 Spyder concept was to Porschephiles, we wouldn’t rule out the possibility), we wouldn’t be shocked to see this sort of powertrain in future Jaguars. [via Autocar]

(Pictured: Jaguar C-XF concept)