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Taken just before a faultless, 900 mile round trip - a pleasure to drive (as you all know)

 

That be one shiny Cat!

 

I had just machine polished and waxed it - over two long hot afternoons

 

And there is the pride for all to see. Gorgeous.

 

leaper..urgh
(sorry!)

 

ah well the leaper was there when i bought it - i don't mind it - it certainly helps people identify it as you drive by or sit in traffic tho'.

 

Is that number plate legal? i want one

 

Maybe, as long as it conforms to correct shape, character and spacing, but the leaper is not, in this country anyway.

 

I would like to get rid of my leaper and was thinking i could use a number plate sticker to cover up the holes. Also i love the look of the grill without a number plate in the way

 

It is not legal and you can get pulled over and fined, it will be interesting to see how long you get away with it.

I have been thinking about removing the badge and sticking one there.

 

The answer in the UK is NO and the forum does not condone contravening motoring regulations.

The location of UK registration marks is governed by:

The Road Vehicles (Display of Registration Marks) Regulations 2001
Part 2: Fixing of front registration plates:
Section 6: Paragraph (3)
This paragraph requires the plate to be fixed vertically or, where that is not reasonably practicable, in a position as close to the vertical as is reasonably practicable.

The 2001 Regulations go into further detail on the location of the plate.

Number plate design is presently governed by British Standard BS AU 145d which sets out the characteristics of the number plate. This includes visibility, strength and reflectivity. To meet the British Standard, each number plate must be permanently and legibly marked with the following information:

1. the British Standard number (currently BS AU 145d)
2. the name, trademark or other way of identifying the manufacturer or supplier
3. the name and postcode of the supplying outlet

In practice this means there is very little flexibility in the positioning or design of UK number plates.

Graham

 

Whilst agreeing with GGG. Mine has been on 5 years and has servived a speed camera, being stopped by the uk police (indicater lamp out) and 5 MOT's. All without comment.

Mine is mounted on the nose, with the badge relocated to the bonnet.

 

Graham has very kindly quoted you the law, chapter and verse, the rules police follow to enforce the law. If anyone has " got away with it up to now " it does not make it right or safe to do so, it just means you have not been caught yet or the cop who stopped you did not know this piece of legislation, OR he could simply have been so taken back by the beauty of the car that he or she chose not process you. I hope it would be the latter

 

but - i'm sure i read somewhere that only applies to vehicles from 1998 or 1997 on (edit - see below - it's Sept 1st 2001 on) - i'm gambling on the cops not knowing that - if and when i get stopped i'll put that to him and see what happens - i'll also further confuse him by saying that putting a number plate in front of the intake causes it to overheat - arguable i'm sure) - i see sports cars here in London with stick on number plates like this quite frequently and in Kensington most Lamborghinis don't even have a front plate at all ( fining these guys £60 is like fining most of us 10p) - i'm thinking of putting my plastic numberplate in a rear footwell and if i get stopped i'll put it on the dash - he won't fine me for that i'm sure - maybe a warning - you'd only get stopped by a cop with nothing better to do and in London - that's rare.
I'll say that only applies to cars from the end of 1998 - see what he says.
Graham please note that you're quoting 2001 regs and i don't really think you should be worried about it being discussed on the forum - we're not asking the forums permission as if that would help or save us from being prosecuted - i was told the leaper on a Jag is considered illegal as it could cause damage to a pedestrian in a crash - so where does it end? Can u imagine a policeman telling a Jaguar owner that he shouldn't have a leaper on his bonnet/hood - man that would be funny).
Tinting your windows past a certain level is illegal - loud exhausts are illegal.
The previous owner said to me to say to a cop (if i'm stopped) that the leaper is attached by plastic connections that will easily come away on impact.
I'm guessing there is probably a certain leeway re these stick on plates by the police - this car or maybe an old MG say - ok - a new Mondeo? ... No.

this is what i'm saying - seems to suggest cars registered before Sept 1st 2001 aren't governed by the new rules :
The Regulations make the use of mandatory plates containing characters of the specified size in the prescribed font (with or without the international distinguishing sign) optional on vehicles either currently registered or first registered before 1st September 2001 with effect from 21st March 2001.

http://uk.practicallaw.com/uklegisla...de?view=plain#

the argument is down to the driver affixing the number plate as close to the vertical as possible - well you can argue that it is, mounting in front of the radiator does restrict air flow and you could argue that affixing it underneath it frequently catches on speed bumps - he'll get fed up and send u on with a warning i reckon ...

 

Those Lamborghinis in Kensington most likely owned by oligarchs(sp?) and Middle East folk who won't pay the fines anyway so PC49 never bothers to stop them:-)

 

any ideas on how i can improve the intake mouth of my beautiful 1998 XK8? I like the E-Type chrome bar look and i see Adamesh do some Aston type grilles - any thoughts guys? I'm in the UK.

 

There's always options

 

i like that chrome bar across - would that fit fairly easy on mines? where do i get one?

 

The chrome bar is the original fit, it's the grille that was made bespoke, yes you could have the same(ish)..... Thats a 2005 car and have a different set up to the earlier XKs.....

All done by Paragon

 

Well here she is……

not sure if i like it yet but had it parked up at work and got loads of compliments today. 2 people saying it looked like the e type and the rest saying they prefer it.

I'm undecided whether i will keep it, its running about 1 degree celsius cooler but i think if i put a mesh grill in there now it would maybe knock 3 - 4 degree's off the coolant temp