Todd whom purchased Jon's 2005 S Type is about to remove his leaper for a couple of years. Todd originally purchased the S Type for his wife that does highway cruising for her work. Maggie their 19 year old daughter has fallen in love with it. So much for being an old man's car!! Anyways, Maggie is a college student and will be parking on campus. I mentioned to Todd how long before a drunken coed needs to have a leaper as a souvenir.

I bought Todd a leaper badge to "temporarily" replace leaper until Maggie is finished with school It was his father's day present..

 

A very wise decision, Rick. I doubt if a leaper hood ornament would last through a home football game weekend on most major college campuses....

 

Unless a car came standard with a leaper (even though it might have been replaced with a growler in some countries) you really can't graft one on. The angle of the leading edge of the hood is tool far downward so the leaping cat will look like it's about to land, not jump upwards. To find the right shape results in the leaper being in the middle of the hood not the forward edge.
Lots of people who bought original XFs tried to do it and everyone was disappointed.
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Jaguar - it's not an automobile, it's a Motorcar
Current: '15 XF (X250) Portfolio AWD 3.0 (it's aubergine...)
Past B: '08 S-Type 4.2 "Satin Edition" (250.06 whp / 259.67 torque)
Past A: '05 X-Type 3.0/auto Jaguar Racing Green

 

On an S-type the "leaper" finishes the retro look package IMHO. The front end just looks unfinished without it!

 

 

I am sure a shim could be made to change the angle so you could put it where it belongs.

 

I also think that the leaper ties the look of the front of the S Type together and helps it look more old timey. The car definitely looks better with one than without one. I'm kind of amazed that mine hasn't been stolen in the four years I've had the car. Good thing no one like Jaguars. Of course that doesn't include you maniacs.

 

The leaper on my 2008 is perfect, on the XK8 it would look like lipstick on a pig.

 

I learned two things today. Leaper = the jag on the hood. Jaguarness is a thing.

One thing I can share on the subject is external projections and pedestrian impact = https://www.euroncap.com/en/vehicle-...ru-protection/

 

It used to be on Mercedes that the hood ornament told you what the "aspiration" of the car was.

Regular sedans, limos, models meant to be cruisers had the MB tristar as a stand up hood ornament
Performance and sports cars had it in the grille.

I think Jag did the same, XJ, S-Type had a leaper. XK has a growler badge.

Now they no longer mount them due to safety regulations, I believe.

 

That's correct. Although I'm not sure what the regulations were for the markets the S-Type went to back then, nowadays we have both interior and exterior regulations for each part of the human body that could be impacted. The nose of the car and the I.P. are the most important / studied areas.
Back when I was working on the DEW platform I was in drivetrain and had no concerns for this.
Today though its something I have to account for.

 

Its not interior passenger safety, but the European laws on pedestrian safety. A hood ornament could "impale" a pedestrian if you hit one. Its also why cars have higher hoods now. Those laws mandated more space between the hood and the engine, so the hood would flex if a person landed on it.

 

Respectfully... Your statement is correct but I was speaking generically. (I'm a OEM automotive engineer and deal with both interior and exterior projections on a regular basis)

 

 

love the look of a leaper on hood!!! because its a jag it belongs there!!
lol

 

Perhaps because they live somewhere which makes laws about safety. The car shown would be illegal in many countries.

 

Ha Ha John. You would make a great Lefty politician. I will take take our politically incorrect ways any day. Taxation and big brother governments aint for me.

 

It's a choice.

I like the way we have about 20% the number of road deaths (per capita) and about 1% the number of gun fatalities.

We get a lot better value from our health service, too.

 

Value in health service is expensive. your 50-60% tax rate pays for second class service. When is Brexitt anyway? ya'll voted for it, whats taking so long.
Back to you for the last word........as usual

 

You're wrong about the health service.

No idea about Brexit - it'll happen whenever some politicians do whatever they do. Ours are poor. Yours... ye gods, really awful!