Car Mascots and the Law

Many of Lejeune's patterns originate from the 1920s and 30s when car mascots were at the height of their popularity. Manufacturers' insignia 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.
HM Government Guidance on Mascots can be found here :European Directive 74/483/EEC is often cited but this refers to the manufacture of new cars and not to the mounting of accessories on an already registered motor vehicle. This EU directive is the reason most manufacturers no longer use mascots on their cars.

All new 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. We also introduced the optional nylon fixings as they will break off 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.

We are also able to offer mountings using either 1 or 2 high strength magnets. However, it is impossible to guarantee at what vehicle speed/ wind speed/ cross-wind etc the magnets will release. Please contact us to discuss your requirements as these are a very good solution to mascot mounting as no hole needs drilling in the bonnet, but some models e.g.birds with open wings are definitely not suitable for magnet fixing!