NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- If you are looking for a practical car, stop reading right now. This is not about minivans, SUVs or sedans. This is about what you might buy if you are about to spend way too much money on a fun toy: the Jaguar F-Type.

Let me start by giving you four competitive reference points:

    Mazda MX-5 Miata. All-new for 2016, and with a starting price around $26,000, it's the value champ in the market today. If you want a sports car toy, but you don't want to spend any more than necessary, look no further.

    Alfa Romeo 4C Spider. New for 2015, this is basically a four-cylinder Ferrari that can be had reasonably equipped for around $70,000. Nothing looks as good as this, and it will make you feel extremely special. 

    Porsche Boxster and Cayman. It starts around $53,000 but it's easy to add tens of thousands of dollars worth of options. Clearly this is the low-risk grand-daddies of the sports car segment.

    Chevrolet Corvette, from General Motors . At $56,000 and up, this gives you more power and tire grip for the dollar. Also, in strong contention for top-3 in terms of looks.

    There are others, of course, from the Mercedes SLK (starting around $45,000) to the BMW Z4 (starting around $50,000) and even the Nissan Z370 (starting around $31,000).

    However, with all of these excellent cars on tap -- and the Mazda, Alfa Romeo, Corvette and Porsche are all particularly superb cars in their various ways -- the Jaguar F-type stands out.

    Jaguar offers the F-type in a bewildering array of variants: Fixed roof versus convertible, V6 (340-380 horsepower) versus V8 (550 horsepower), rear wheel drive versus four wheel drive, and manual (V6 rear wheel drive only) versus automatic transmissions. The prices start around $67,000 and base prices top just north of $107,000 before adding options.

    In terms of looks, the fixed roof version looks better than the convertible, and in that form it's one of the finest designs on the market today. The Alfa Romeo 4C beats it, in part because of its scarcity (only 1,000 available for sale in the U.S. market per year) and Ferrari heritage. That said, the Alfa is also the only other sports car in this price range that beats the Jaguar in terms of looks, even if the Corvette comes close.

    In terms of practicality, only the Alfa Romeo is worse. The space inside the Jaguar cabin is tight; don't buy this car if you are over six feet tall. There is a fair amount of cupholders and storage cubbies -- unlike the Alfa Romeo -- but the luggage space is smaller than almost all of the competitors. No airport runs in this car, unless your friend is traveling with only a briefcase and a gym bag.

    The moment you turn on the car, I guarantee a wide smile on your face. The only other car in a lower price range that comes close to matching this exhaust sound is the Fiat Abarth. Firing up the Jaguar F-type is the automotive equivalent to kick-starting a Harley Davidson outside a quiet cafe.

    The instrument panel and controls are excellent, both ergonomic and beautiful. You'll note the clever temperature controls and the excellent volume knob for the sound system. On the downside, Jaguar still lacks Google's (GOOG) - Get Report (GOOGL) - Get Report Android Auto and Apple's (AAPL) - Get Report CarPlay, which is the car's main downside when compared to the Corvette.

    I drove convertible and fixed roof, V6 and V8, manual and automatic, and rear versus all wheel drive versions of the Jaguar F-type. While I generally don't like manual transmissions, this one was in strong contention for the best manual I have ever driven -- smooth and precise at the same time.

    That said, go for the automatic, and the V6 has enough power not needing to pay up for the 550 horsepower V8. The noise from the exhaust, in combination with the overall drive feel -- steering, handling, balance -- makes any of these variants into something special. You aren't just driving a sports car that looks great -- you really feel and hear it.

    As such, the Jaguar F-type is an exercise in pure luxury. The car is completely unnecessary as it's impractical and obviously on the expensive side. However, if you have other cars in your home garage stable, money is no object, and you want a toy that will put a smile on your face every time, the Jaguar F-type is precisely what the doctor prescribed.

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    This article is commentary by an independent contributor. At the time of publication, the author held AAPL positions in the stocks mentioned.