This isn't really tech, and I'm too new to Jags to know which ones have the leaper hood ornament, so my apologies if this isn't really the right forum...but it's nothing real important, and certainly light-hearted, so maybe you'll appreciate the break from the norm.

On Monday, I was sitting in a coffee shop, working on my laptop. I was facing the door as I usually do in restaurants and cafes (it's a thing I do, sorry. Probably some sort of phobia, OCD, or control issue that I haven't dealt with yet. Doesn't matter right now.) My 99 XJ8 just happened to be in the parking spot right outside the door, just beyond a sidewalk, leaper facing me.

Then it happened. Some guy was pacing back and forth on the sidewalk near my car and talking on his phone. Then, as he walked away down the sidewalk, he casually, yet intentionally, touched my leaper. A perfectly innocent and non-destructive thing to do - probably just wanted to know what it felt like.

It didn't bother me. Well, maybe it did a little...or maybe I'm not sure if it should have... I'm really not a possessive type of person. But then I started thinking, "hey, it's in great condition, and I've seen how much it cost to replace, so while it's not a big deal at all, nothing necessitated you putting your hands on the leaper."...followed by, "wait. Is this going to happen a lot? Is stranger-feeling-leaper a thing? Should I just get used to it?" I, of course, don't have answers to those questions, because it's new to me.

So, I guess I was (in a very light-hearted way, mind you) bothered by the fact that I didn't know if I should be bothered that some stranger put his hands on my leaper.

Comments? (and, please, if your comment is going to be "calm down" or "lighten up", you've read far too much angst into my post than what was intended...and you probably insist on sitting facing the door in restaurants as well - which would make it extremely difficult for us to have lunch together.)

;-)

 

Bill,

If you do a forum search on 'leapers', you'll find several members have had more than just admiration or stroking of their hood ornaments. They attract attention and sometimes trophy hunters. Several members have modified the fixings to make them removable.

Not likely to be a problem for someone who is always facing the door.

Graham

 

I'll have to look around at the stories. So, people modify them so that they can remove it and take it inside with them each night or when parked in questionable parts of town? Interesting.

I've thought about a mod...a touch-sensitive circuit producing a growl. At the very least that's more entertaining, while still retaining that Jaguar look... :-)

 

I think I'd be concerned to if strange men were touching mine.

 

Kids and women are especially fond of the leaper.

One member even said he had to buy a "Jaguar" for his wife after she let him buy his Jaguar because she had said "I like the Jaguar" at the dealership ... meaning the leaper. Once he found out what she really meant, he bought a leaper, had it mounted on a wooden base and presented her with a Jaguar for her office.

 

They are removable. Take it off. Find yerself a shop that deals in sex-toys...

Then .. .don't just sit at the window and watch.

Give up the best seat..

... and sell admission tickets.

Proceeds WILL be 'put into the kitty'. One way or another...

 

Don't forget to also film the crowd scene to maximise the potential number of revenue streams

 

....bill just relax.....stopped by my local watering hole last night and parked in front.....one way of dealing with "leaper madness"...is to come up with a diversionary strategy......people will always look at and admire the car....i installed a set of optic fiber blinking lights in the grill....which flash and turn all different colors....i haven't been stopped by cops yet.....now folks....focus on the blinking lights and not the leaper....

 

Ah... coloured blinkinlights? Dare I say 'tacky'?



Hmmm.... How about mag-stick-on RAF 'roundels' for the doors, squadron-ID for the rear 'wings', removable ersatz machine-gun barrels protruding from the undergrille... that combo is closer to 'period correct' and doesn't drain the battery...

Lawyer and bail bondsman to get one out of jail on a 'terrorist' bust might drain Hell out of the bank account, though... There's such a thing as 'too much diversionary attention'.

 

you are absolutely correct...a tad to tacky.....especially if you are a purist!

 

One X308 owner came up with this same strategy. See the section boxed in red:



Of course, Her Majesty never has any problems with the Police!

Graham

 

You may have solved the mystery of why my spring loaded Leaper is sometimes a little off centre after leaving it parked.
Lustful Leaper Likers Lurking.

 

Depends on where you parked it.

Might be the Leaper itself... Jaguars are 'try-sexual' after all, (when not try-ing one's patience and/or budget..) so it may have been try-ing...

...to track whatever potential partners struck it's fancy at the moment...

 

well grahm...i thought i was setting a new trend around my way....tacky as it may be...if its good enough for her majesty...its good enough for me...