Jaguar Leapers... Frederick Gordon Crosby’s Mascot Bounds into history

Jan/Feb 2022 edition
Issue #20 Automobilia Resource Magazine
Written by Ian Cooling
Photos by Ian Cooling - Please do not duplicate without permission.

First thoughts:    Frederick Gordon Crosby’s leaping Jaguar is one of the most instantly recognizable motoring symbols in the world. 
 
The Jaguar line of cars was launched by SS Cars in 1935, but the brochures and other sales literature for model year 1935/36 did not feature the feline. The catalyst for SS Cars adopting a mascot may have been the sight of a Desmo mascot on the radiator cap of a car in the Foleshill works in central England, probably sometime in late 1937 or early 1938. The stories vary, but either Bill Rankin, SS Cars marketing chief, or William Lyons himself saw the mascot and described it as a “cat shot off a fence.” Rankin was told to arrange a Jaguar mascot of their own.

This mascot was probably the catalyst for the creation of the Jaguar mascot. It was described by William Lyons as looking like “a cat shot off a fence.” It is the Desmo jaguar, one in a series of animal mascots created by Desmo in the 1920s and 30s. It therefore predated the arrival of Jaguar cars and was not created for those cars, as is sometimes claimed.

Gestation: The story now leaps forward to 1996. At Brooks’ Goodwood Auction in June that year, Gordon Crosby’s own bronze prototype mascot came up for sale with impeccable provenance from the family. On his death, it had passed to his widow, and on her death to his surviving son, Michael, who consigned the mascot to the auction. A few weeks after the sale I was told that Michael was in England and would like to meet me, and I spent a thoroughly enjoyable day with him, learning much about his father and the mascot.

This magnificent bronze mascot is the original Gordon Crosby prototype. This is the real thing, with impeccable provenance, having remained in the family until it was sold at Brooks’ Goodwood Auction in the south of England in June 1996. It subsequently sold for £45,750 (approx. $73,200 USD in 2011), including fees, at auction in 2011 – still the world record for a single item of Jaguar automobilia.

The mascot, now popular and well established, took pride of place on the front cover of the 24 March 1939 issue of The Autocar.

He told me that his father’s bronzes were usually cast by the firm of Parlanti in the East End of London. As many as five rough castings were made, and the best was chosen to be presented to the client for approval. Rejects were returned to Parlanti to be melted down. This is an important point. Several times a year, rough-looking Jaguar mascots appear on the likes of eBay claiming to be the original prototype! In reality, after the design had been approved for production, presumably by William Lyons himself, the sole remaining prototype was passed back to Gordon Crosby.   Production of Versions 1, 2 and 3  ​

This small captioned photograph marked the launch of the Gordon Crosby mascot and appeared in the 23 December 1938 issue of The Autocar. This informed readers that the mascot was available from SS Cars agents at a price of two guineas. This was 40 shillings in 1938 which then equalled just a couple of dollars.

A later publicity item for the new mascot confirming that SS Cars had commissioned Gordon Crosby to create their mascot.

​Returning to the production of the mascot, Version 1 was based directly on Crosby’s prototype, with some of the details softened and rounded for mass production. It was originally announced in the 23 December 1938 issue of The Autocar, where a small captioned photo informed readers that the mascot was available from SS Cars agents at a price of two guineas. A later publicity piece for the mascot confirmed that it was “Designed expressly for SS Cars Ltd – manufacturers of the Jaguar Car – by the eminent artist and sculptor F. Gordon Crosby.” ​

Version 1 was designed to fit on a radiator cap and therefore ended around 1951 when the Mark V – the last Jaguar to have an external radiator cap – went out of production.  This mascot is 7.25" long, and early pre-war examples were often made from “pot metal,” a variable alloy made from scrap metal thrown into a melting “pot.” Post-war, the alloy stabilized as a zinc alloy.  ​

These ashtrays were seen in Jaguar showrooms in the 1950s. The mascot on the right is Version 1, with its rear legs crouched and getting ready to spring forward. The one on the left shows Version 2, which has already taken off and is in mid-air with its legs stretched out behind.

Version 2 appeared in 1955 for the 2.4 litre Mark I saloon. It was also 7.25" long and made from the same zinc-based alloy as later Version 1 mascots. This version was mounted on the bonnet rather than the radiator cap, and the base was reshaped accordingly. Version 3, a scaled-down lookalike of Version 2 at 5" long, was designed for the Mark X in 1965. ​

The comparison here is between the Version 2 mascot, above at 7.25", and Version 3 (right) at 5".

By 1970 these cars were out of production, along with their mascots. There then followed nearly 25 fallow years with no mascots on Jaguar cars until the arrival of the X300 version of the XJ saloons in 1994. 
 
Ian Cooling

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