My friend has a black 2011 XJ SC (non-long body).

Yesterday we went to the the local showcase for one of the Jag dealers in Dallas.

We had been negative to the thought of a leaper on his car until we saw a black one like his and actually thought it added a touch of class to the car- especially from a side view.

I am curious as to any thoughts, views, opinions or if on the new XJ or even XF if anyone has put a leaper on and how you think it looks or might look.

Thanks

Tom in Dallas/Plano

 

I like the leaper on my old xj8. It looks "right" with the dated styling. However, I have seen the leaper added to the modern bubble shaped Jaguar sedans and they just don't look right. I don't know what it is about it, but its just wrong somehow. Perhaps its the shape of the hood and that the leaper looks more like its skiing down a slope than leaping from the ground.

 

Thanks

So you are suggesting a Ferrari type of leaper? ha!

Tom

 

Similar to what Phil said, I liked the leaper hood ornament on my first Jaguar; it looked right. When we moved up to the new design, I looked at several to which the leaper had been added and I personally thought it looked out of place. So much so, in fact, that it became one of two "deal breaker" issues in my search. Whenever the sales rep I was working with called to tell me he had a car he thought I'd like, my first question was, "does it have a leaper on the hood?" and my second question was, "does it have a wood steering wheel?". If the answers weren't 1.) no, and 2.) yes, I politely declined to even look at it. Pretty much everything else was negotiable so far as I was concerned. In the end however, that's only my personal opinion and everyone is entitled to their own. It's your friend's car and it's up to him to decide whether it will enhance his car's appearance or not.

Dwayne

 

looks disguisting with it)

 

Gotta agree with the above im afraid. I think it would look terrible on the new type jags, it would look like those cheap hood scoops ppl buy and put on their corsas... Older jags just look right with it, with the long long long flat plain (ish) bonnets it just set it off but the newer jags the grill is their show piece I think and are a bit more understated. Maybe I'm wrong but it doesn't seem right
.

 

The leaper looked appropriate on our first Jag, an '01, with a flat hood. But the sloping hood of the newer models, makes it look out of place. We went through this same question when we bought our XF, back in '09.

 

It simply does not belong on the x351. I'm an expert on good looking things!

 

I assume such- ha!

 

The leaper has a magnificent heritage. It was resplendent on my Dad's Mk II. And it looks right at home on my '01 XJR. But for the same reason the X350 was a failure in the market -- its design looked backward rather than forward -- the notion of a leaper on Callum's brilliantly futuristic X351 is perverse.

Leave the flying mascots to the tea-and-crumpets crowd. Jaguar's challenge in re-establishing itself among the most technologically advanced luxury sedans on the market demands that it not be burdened with styling signatures from the past.

Every great new Jaguar model has had to break with old, and often much-loved, designs. Without that willingness to make a leap of faith there would have been no E-Type or XJ6. And so it is with the new line. Respect the past, but don't make the mistake of trying to carry it into the future.

 

Porsche is a prime example of respecting its past body design and "making the mistake" of carrying it into the future ... for more than 50 years with evolutionary changes. The 911 lives on, but not the 914 and 928.

Other successful marques that are clearly evolutions of their original designs include the Mustang, Camaro, and Challenger. Jaguar hasn't abandoned its Leaper; it just doesn't work as a hood ornament with the current styling - unlike the Spirit of Ecstasy, which defines a Rolls Royce. Can you imagine a Rolls without it? Heresy.