1955 1969 Original Jaguar Car Bonnet Mascot Leaper Made By Wilmot Breedon

In General
This beautiful car mascot (known as the Jaguar Leaper), mounted on a copper plate has almost certainly come from a Jaguar car made between 1955 and 1969. The Jaguar Leaper is one of the most recognisable of car mascots – along with the Rolls-Royce Silver Lady, the Bentley Flying B and the Mercedes-Benz three pointed star.  The Leaper (in three variants) was a standard feature on all Jaguar saloon cars made between to 1951 and 1955 to 1970 and available as an optional extra on some of the sports models.

This particular version we have for sale has the code number "7/10091/1 WBB" on its base.  This casting number identifies the manufacturer as Wilmot Breeden who made these mascots.  This specific number leaper was used on the Mk 1 240 and 340, Mk 2 (in 2.4, 3.4 and 3.8 variants), Mk VIII, Mk IX, S-type 3.4 and 3.8, 240, 340, and XK 150 models from 1955 to 1969.  So this Leaper will have come from one of these cars – we are not sure which as they all have the same fixing point.  A slightly larger version was provided between 1938 and 1951 on the Mark V and a smaller leaper was provided between 1961 and 1970 on the large Mark Ten model.

The leapers were not provided as standard on the sports models because of their aerodynamic inefficiency although they were available as an optional extra - except on the E Type.

This leaper mascot was put on the Mark 2 3.8.   – an exceedingly fast car for the time with a 3.8 litre twin carburettor version of the famous Jaguar XK straight six twin cam engine giving 220 bhp (gross).  This gave the car an exceptional top speed for the time of 125 mph and a 0-60 time of 8.5.  These are very good figures even for today.  This model was reputed often to be used by persons of the criminal fraternity – due to its ability to make a quick get away.

It often stayed on the car even when the Mark 2 went racing – which was regularly.  This model took over from the larger Mark VIIM as Jaguar’s primary racer and was exceedingly successful winning the 1962 Australian Touring Car Championship, the 1963 European Touring Car Challenge and the 1963 Brands Hatch 6 Hours.

This Leaper mascot was also on a grander Jaguar model – the Mark IX (1958-1961).  This model was easily able to compete with Rolls-Royce and Bentley models of the time – the Silver Cloud 2 and the Bentley S2 – while being a great deal better bargain so far as price was concerned.  Jaguar’s ability to make cars of exceptional quality, speed and style confounded their opposition for many years.  Jaguar’s logo was “Grace, Space and Pace” and these cars certainly lived up to that.

Even the big Mark VIII and Mark IXs were not above a little rallying from time to time – they were known as the Rolling Fortresses.  Stirling Moss won many races in an earlier Mark VIIM and a Mark VIIM won the 1956 Monte Carlo Rally outright – an amazing achievement for a car with a 3.4 litre engine when penalties were given to more powerful engines.

The Queen Mother liked her 1955 Jaguar Mark VII so much that periodically it was sent back to the Jaguar factory for updates bringing it line with later models.

History of the Leaper
Someone at Jaguar had seen a leaping animal mascot made by a British company called Desmo in the 1920s and 1930s.  William Lyons himself said it looked like “a cat shot off a fence”.  It was the Desmo jaguar, one in a series of animal mascots created by Desmo.  Illustrator Gordon Crosby was accordingly appointed to design a mascot for the cars.  This was first released in 1938 and put on the Mark V model.  Many cars at the time – especially expensive ones – had mascots.

Frederick Gordon Crosby was an especially accomplished illustrator and worked most of his working life for Autocar producing some very memorable illustrations.  They cost a great deal if you can find one.  So it was a very good choice by Jaguar to have him design the ever memorable Leaper – which has remained one of the most instantly recognizable motoring symbols in the world.

Jaguar
Jaguar is one of the great names of British motoring.  With a glittering history.  The business started by the then William Lyons (later Sir William) and his partner William Walmsley in 1922 in Blackpool (they started with sidecars) grew into a world leading car manufacturer whose cars not only provided luxury motoring for generations of people but also a world beating racing heritage.

Jaguar’s famous ability to make exceptional cars at prices vastly less than the opposition did not stop them having their own prestige – a rare trick in the car business where prestige is usually directly linked to purchase price.

Cars like the E type Jaguar (famously (if not certainly) referred to by no less a luminary than Enzo Ferrari as “the most beautiful car in the world”), the Mark 2 (known as the Morse Jag) and later the world class XJ6 and XJ12 saloons created a mystique for this most British of marques.  Like Rolls-Royce and Bentley, Jaguar is quintessentially British but popular the world over and liked especially by Americans who consider it a European thoroughbred.

Part of this mystique was created by Jaguar’s domination of Le Mans in the 1950s - taking 1st place in 1951, 1st, 2nd and 4th in 1953, 1st and 3rd in 1955, 1st and 4th in 1956 and no less than the top four places in 1957.  They then withdrew from racing.  Jaguar managed this amazing feat using a racing version of their famous inline 6 cylinder XK engine which featured a cast iron block with an aluminium cylinder head, twin overhead camshafts and hemispherical combustion chambers.  Yes – a British Hemi!  This exceptional engine was also used in their passenger cars and remained in production between 1948 and 1992 – an extremely long period for a production engine.

Jaguar dealerships
Jaguar dealerships were for many people a place of dreams. One of the most famous dealerships was Coombs Jaguar on the Portsmouth Road at St Catherine’s Guildford.

Coombs Jaguar was an upmarket Jaguar and Daimler dealership created in 1947 by John Coombs from the garage he inherited from this Father.  John Coombs was a British racing driver who tuned various Jaguar models including the E Type and Mark 2.  These were raced very successfully by among others Graham Hill, Stirling Moss, Bruce McLaren, Jack Brabham and Colin Chapman of Lotus in the 1950s and 1960s.  Here is a Coombs Jaguar with Roy Salvadori at the wheel back in May 1961 – the year of the E Type’s introduction and its first win – and we believe its first major race outing.

Jaguars were immediately recognisable by their distinctive leaper bonnet ornament designed by the illustrator Gordon Crosby and used in three forms from 1938 to 1970 with a break between 1951 and 1955.

This is a wonderful opportunity to have a genuine memento of this remarkable make from one of its golden periods.

Year
1955 - 1969

Signed and Dated
A casting number: "7/10091/1 WBB" is stamped  on the underside of the leaper, mounted on the copper plate, that identifies the manufacturer as Wilmot Breeden who made the car leaper mascots for Jaguar to go on their cars.

Material
Chrome and copper

Condition
This Jaguar Leaper model has survived very well indeed and is in good condition. There are some  light scratch marks on the back of the leaper owing to it being mounted and used on a Jaguar car.  The very heavy copper base is in good condition with two fixings on the underside holding the Leaper firmly onto the copper base. There are no breakages or restoration.

Dimensions ( L x W x H )
15.5 cm x 8.5 cm x 8 cm or 6.10 inches x 3.34 inches x 3.14 inches

Weight
Heavy! - 1.6 kg

Shipping

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Condition report:

This Jaguar Leaper model has survived very well indeed and is in good condition. There are some  light scratch marks on the back of the leaper owing to it being mounted and used on a Jaguar car.  The very heavy copper base is in good condition with two fixings on the underside holding the Leaper firmly onto the copper base. There are no breakages or restoration.