Legend has it that cats have nine lives. Well, British car firm Jaguar, with roots going back to 1922, may now be risking its ninth and final life in an all-or-nothing gamble for its existence. Many seasoned motor industry observers believe so.

That's because, in just a few weeks' time, Jaguar will unveil what it is billing as a 'radical' and 'jaw-dropping' new electric car – a bold 'exuberant' and sporty four-door GT grand tourer.

It is one of three new EV models on which the leaping cat firm is staking its entire future as a fully electric-only and more upmarket brand, with prices starting from just under £100,000 – or double that of the average current Jaguar – up to £120,000.

It will be followed by a sleek two-door fastback coupe model and a large SUV to be built in Solihull. The four-door GT's unveiling as a 'concept' in December won't be held in the UK, but at a glitzy, 'influencer'-packed extravaganza in Miami. 

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) denies any snub to Britain, but argues that the US is a major market. 

Miami is also considered hip - especially for the Tik-Tok and YouTube generation.

David Beckham (who co-owns US 'soccer' team Inter Miami) and wife Victoria (who helped create a special edition Range Rover Evoque so already has links with JLR) have just splashed out £60million on a nine-bedroom Miami mega-mansion.

So launching the new electric Jaguar at the Art Basel Miami Beach Art Week in early December is clearly a more glamorous option than wintry Britain.

Over recent months, Jaguar bosses have teased tantalising details and images of their plans. This tedious drip-feeding will continue until that first car – arguably Jaguar's last chance saloon – is finally unveiled.

We learn that the 'radical' sporting GT will be the most powerful Jaguar ever and look 'carved' from a single squared-off slab, with a bold flat front grille, razor-thin headlights and tail lights, and a range of 435 miles. 

It will be minimalist, clean, simplified and digital with few, if any, buttons and 'a copy of nothing'.

Names of the new models will see 'nods to our past but plenty of forward thinking'. 

So how about names based on Jaguar's classic XK sports cars, but with added letters like XKA, B, C, D or E?

Or perhaps numbers: XK1, 2, and 3? Expect also new 'reimagined' Jaguar 'leaping cat' and 'growler' badges and brand identity.

All current Jaguar models are being phased out and there'll be a long gap or 'reset period' until the new electric Jaguar is launched in 2026.

There have been casualties along the way. Jaguar was late to invest in diesel engines. The £1million Jaguar C-X75 two-seater 200mph electric-hybrid supercar programme was axed in 2012 on cost grounds – though the car appeared in the 2015 James Bond movie Spectre.

A planned all-electric flagship XJ saloon was canned in February 2021 – just weeks ahead of unveiling – and its last CEO Thierry Bolloré, who was masterminding the Jaguar revival, left in late 2022.

If the latest strategy fails, one option for JLR – owned by India's Tata conglomerate – might be to sell off the legendary British Jaguar arm to China. Then those Chinese cats will have the cream.