Many of Lejeune's patterns originate from the 1920's and 30's when car mascots were at the height of their popularity. Manufacturers' insignia, too, were often seen adorning the front of cars; a practice that continues to the current day. The most famous of these is the Rolls Royce Spirit of Ecstasy, which for a number of years was manufactured by Lejeune, along with the emblems of Alvis, Bentley and many others.
Over the years, along with changes in the design of cars, awareness of safety issues began to increase. The radiator grille cap, the traditional location for a car mascot, disappeared, and the popularity of mascots began to decline. In spite of this, many of our customers still choose to mount our products onto their cars, and we provide fixings for this purpose.

Many people think that it is illegal to mount a mascot onto a modern motor car. This is not the case. There are two relevant sections in the statute law, and these should be taken into consideration before mounting a mascot:
Regulation 53 Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986 states: "No mascot, emblem or other ornamental object shall be carried by a motor vehicle first used on or after 1 October 1937 in any position where it is likely to strike any person with whom the vehicle may collide unless the mascot is not liable to cause injury to such person by reason of any projection theron."
Section 40A Road Traffic Act 1988 as amended by the Road Traffic Act 1991 states: "a person is guilty of an offence if he uses, or causes or permits another to use, a motor vehicle.... on a road when.... the condition of the vehicle..., or of its accessories or equipment.... is such that the use of the motor vehicle.... involves a danger of injury to any person."

At the time of publication, the amendment to the law by the 1991 Act has not been tested before a court in relation to mascots. Over the last twenty years a handful of convictions have been made under Regulation 53, but they are not binding and our experience has been that the police will not normally raise any objection provided that the mascot is positioned well back on the bonnet, near the windscreen as shown below.

Lejeune mascots are supplied with 2 types of fixings - a steel set and a nylon set. Steel fixings have always been used in the past, and some customers are happy to continue their use. Recently however, we have introduced the nylon fixings as they will shear at a much lower force in the event of an impact, and we would therefore recommend that they be used in preference to the steel fixings.

Feb 2002 Devon & Cornwall Constabulary.

A Lejeune customer was given this written advice: "The issue of mascots is of prime responsibility for the manufacturers of such items and the vehicles owner, who is responsible for there positioning upon his or her vehicle.
Mascots are not illegal. That said you will note from the regulations that the item must be positioned safely. Likewise the items construction and fixing method must also be safe.
There are no measurements specified in the legislation as to the positioning of mascots.
You will need to discuss with the mascot manufacturers the requirements of the product in order to comply with the legislation and your own needs."

June 2003 - The Sunday Times

The Knowledge: Mascots - Everything you wanted to know about cars but were afraid to ask.
"Mascots" began as good luck charms tied to the radiator grilles of early cars. Then car makers realised the humble radiator filler cap at the front of the car made an excellent spot for a mascot, and started to offer caps fitted with novelty figures. Soon after, the mascot evolved into an opportunity to display three-dimensional company insignia: the three most enduring being Rolls-Royce's Spirit of Ecstasy, Mercedes-Benz's three-pointed star and Jaguar's leaping cat.

Wildlife has been the subject for most mascots over the years: the 1920s Spanish luxury car maker Hispano-Suiza used the figure of a stork in flight, its French rival Bugatti a rearing elephant, while the British family car company Singer went for a running cockerel. Neither Ford nor Vauxhall ever sported an official company mascot " far too frivolous " but in 1934 Hillman launched a new model called the Melody Minx and sitting on top of its radiator grille was a chrome mascot with a tiny woman whose figure formed part of the frame of a harp. This was fitting because it was the first British production car to have a radio as standard.

Since 1978 all new cars have had to conform to a stringent series of design rules called Type Approval. Part of this means strict adherence to the European directive on vehicle exterior projections which forbids sharp points or protrusions that might cause injury in an accident. Consequently Rolls's mascot has a mechanism to make it fall away if struck with more than 10kg of force. Merc's three-pointed star folds flush with the bonnet on impact, but Jaguar's "leaper" could not be redesigned to be safe, so is no longer fitted to cars in Europe. However, once a car is registered for the road, Type Approval no longer applies. That means you can bolt a bonnet mascot onto your car legally and, indeed, new Jaguar mascots are available for owners to fit retrospectively. But by doing this you could lay yourself open to an injury claim if someone was hurt by your mascot.

July 2004

Dyfed Powys Magistrates Court
A Lejeune customer was summoned to appear to answer charges of breach of Reg. 53 for possession of a mascot "which was in a position where it was likely to strike a person whith whom the vehicle might collide"
The case was thrown out of court as the mascot - a Leaping Salmon - was secured with the Lejeune nylon fixings which were shown to come within EC regulation 74/483.