Leaper - or not ?
 

My previous 71 and my current 73 have the 5" Leaper on the hood, but looking around at 73s, I see a lot of them without the Leaper. Can anyone clear up this mystery for me ?

the leaper mascot/ornament was done away with around the time when the Series 2 XJ was introduced. Having to do with people getting impaled by the leaper if struck by the car in pedestrian crossings, so the Feds passed a law to ban them.

in theory the last Jaguars to have a factory bonnet leaper were the S type, the 420, the 420-G, and the Series 1 XJ, and the latter in some markets only. But owners in the USA kept installing them all the way to today, it is a profitable ornament.

the irony is that all the way to the end of the Series 3 XJ, (1992), the bonnets came prepared for the leaper ornament, with the holes marked for drilling on the reverse side of the hood/bonnet.

my 1984 XJ-6 does not have a leaper ornament, my opinion is that it looks out of place in the XJ.

and I almost forget: in the old Jaguars the leaper ornament has a purpose, you grab it to help raise the hood/bonnet; In the XJ it has no purpose since the hood raises forward from the rear, same principle as in the E-type. Now just imagine a E-type / XK-E with a leaper on the hood, it would look wrong.

No - have mine off my old SII on my desk now
 

I am not a fan of them on any Jaguar... the old one off my '74 SII is now a desk ornament and was off the rusted out hood on the ground on the left of the picture.

It was traded for a Mustang convertible and left with a imported from Canada '84 Sovereign hood that had a small Leaper...

My imported to Canada 84 XJ6 Sovereign has a leaper on it. I have no idea if its factory original or not, but she is definitely staying on the car!

It isn't


Cheers
DD

I think Jaguar stopped using 'em because they didn't like the look....but, yeah, there might have bee some regulations involved




I really have serious doubts that even certain Series I cars ever had a factory installed leaper. This has been hashed over for years. I don't think anyone, anywhere has ever produced a picture or any other documentation showing a 'factory installed' leaper on any Series I-II-III car.

But, if it was ever done, it would've most likely been done on a Series I !



Yup! And people love shiny objects :)



One of those Jaguar 'throwback' things. They really hated 'letting go' :)


I agree, and I think the Jaguar stylists agreed as well.

BTW, I just bought another Series III....with no leaper! I'm tickled :)

Cheers
DD

I have the "Jaguar XJ6 Gold Portfolio" 1969-1979.

It is a compilation of almost every newspaper and magazine article on the S1 & S2.
174 pages of pics,articles,specs,road tests etc.

Not one of the hundreds of pictures has a leaper on the car.

Don't you think if leaper is going to injure a pedestrian they are already pretty well screwed anyway by the time the leaper gets to them?

My car came with a leaper so it stays, it is the small one.

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Doug:


Congratulations. Back to the fun. post up some pictures and detail. I'm sure your pre and post buy inspections would interest all of us. especialy those contemplating a buy.


I like to watch a judge show or two in the afternoon. Many are the misadventures of folks buying old cars. The world does not understand 'as is, where is".


I do growl a bit when the judges chastise them for buying old cars. Ten seems old to most of them!!!


I did see one advertised on another forum up ion your neck of the woods. Might your new steed be it. Price seemed very decent as well as condition. Claret and buckskin??? A striking combination.


Carl

i see the conversation is centred to the US/canada, xj6 series 1-2-3 for the Australian market were mostly assembled in NZ and all were fitted with a leaper as standard, any without a leaper from new were at the request of the buyer..........

Mine was assembled at the BMC Nelson assembly plant(NZ), if the leaper was factory those South Islanders are just like Tasmanians(as I always
assumed).

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This comment probably belongs n the XJS list, if it belongs anywhere!!


I saw a rerun segment of "Fast n Loud". The Gas Monkey garage in Dallas, Texas. Rawlins, a principal in the show buys and flips cars after a fix of some degree.


He found the record setting XJ of about 1978 that won about then. Rawlins and pal used another later to beat that record. so, he and wealthy pal went after the original car. Now, in sad shape in a lo awaiting the crusher. he paid a big prce and brought it to Texas. Point: A leaper on the bonnett. it didn't look right, but, either did the car!!


Sad, I don't know the fate of the rescued cat???


Carl

In some markets such as Japan, the Leader persisted at least as late as the 2006 X type, although it may have been an option. Many ex Japanese cars are imported into my home country and virtually all including XK 8s and XKRs have the leapers.

Same thing in the USA. The XJ had them all the way through the X350 generation. Although I have seen XJ40's with and without them. Can't be as bad as getting impaled by a Spirit of Ecstasy, can it?
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.jag...47d83f98dc.jpg

Well I don't know, if you are going to be impaled on anything, it may as well be the most upmarket mascot you can manage. The Leaper is lovely, but the Spirit of Ecstasy would give you far better bragging rights with St Peter!