Explanation of the Vauxhall Griffin badge

Mark G · Explanation of the Vauxhall Griffin badge

Keesie and Corgi Kid may remember this.......... when we were at the end of the Ricoh Arena Coventry last July for a toyfair, myself Keesie, and CK, were in the car park, chatting just before leaving and Keesie mentioned he liked the Griffin badge on the tailgate of his Corsa hire car, better than the Opel badge.

I then explained as best as I could what the symbol meant, but they weren't sure whether to believe me............

Well no harm done(!) but here is the proper explanation I just found on an owners club website:

http://www.droopsnoot.co.uk/Griffin.htm

kitkatman

Very interesting Mark, I didn't know that

Fred7A

Interesting.

The Russian word for a railway station is Vauxhall (well, vokzal when transliterated from the Cyrillic alphabet). It is said that this is named after Vauxhall station in London, after some Russians visited it in the 1800s to see the new invention of the railway. If so, the station must have been less of a dump than it is now!

Another theory is that it is named after Vauxhall pleasure gardens. The name became a generic term for pleasure gardens, and was applied to a garden which became the end of the first Russian railway line.

Mr.Blunden

All very interesting stuff. It's little known facts like these that make me fascinated with history.

libertine

i love my vauxhalls ive just bought a minichamps mk1 astra sr cause i have to sell my real one

during the 2nd world war the war effort came into place and they made the churchhill tanks

Mark G

libertine - my brother had a MK1 Astra 1.6L 5 door hatch, A reg as his first car but all along he wanted a MK1 1.6SR 3door, but he couldn't find one during 1994.

I've seen the Minichamps one and am toying with the idea of going for one, - just can't decided whether to boy one for myself or as a present for him!

Gaz

Thanks for that Mark, that was very interesting. My van is a Bedford, but as you probably know, part of the Vauxhall company.
It actually has a Vauxhall badge on the steering wheel.

libertine

Mark G

Thanks Gaz, the big Bedford trucks had the griffin badge on the steering wheel too, and so did the later CF van.

Libertine - is that V reg plate the original? As I thought the first Kadetts were V platers but thought the earliest 1.3SR's were 2 doors with separate hinged boots, and not hatchbacks, but they did have the Hatchbacks shape.

My brothers college mate in the early 90's had a white X reg Kadett 1.3SR with the 3 door Hatch body thought, which was very nice. I also knew a guy who had another X reg Kadett SR 3 door in terracotta red, but his was a 1.6. The Vauxhall Astra 1.6SR badged versions didn't come out till on the Y plate in late '82. My brother wanted the metallic green colour!

He also hoped to later upgrade to a MK1 GTE as his next car (rare and sought after now) but the nearest thing to that he bought was the mechanically similar MK2 Astra SRi 3 door he had, which was white with a dark grey painted lower half SRi badges on the doors. He fitted MK3 Astra Sport alloys to it.

I think he would have liked yours but has enough on his plate now with his first child on the way! He still has fond memories of them now, and bought the one he owned as he wanted one as 10 year old schoolboy in the early 80's.