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Myth, Fantasy, History and Sci-Fi News | Vauxhall's Mythical Beast Makeover
She-griffin car badge has a new look. | | April 16, 2008 | | I know this is a bit of a stretch for subject on this blog, but I found it interesting, so why not! =)
 Vauxhall has given its griffin the What To Wear treatment and, from August, this sharp new silver lion/eagle thingy will scowl out of badges on every new Vauxhall, writes Andrew English
Readers might be interested to know that Vauxhall's version of this mythical creature is a she-griffin, mainly because it has wings and eagle-like forearms - wingless griffins, or with lion's forearms, are males (correctly known as opinicus) and have worse tempers.
Other heraldic devices used on car badges are the mythical hunting dog on the Talbot, Saab's griffin or gripen (ironically, General Motors owns both Vauxhall and Saab, which must lead to some hilarious badge-swapping moments in the canteen), Alfa Romeo's giant man-eating serpent and the Welsh dragon on the badge of the Gilbern, a car so rare it is almost mythical itself.
The Vauxhall griffin is a heraldic device derived from the coat of arms of Faulk Le Breant whose house, "Faulks Hall", gradually became mispronounced from Faulk's Hall to Fawke's Hall, Fox Hall and finally to Vauxhall.
When the old site of the house was converted to Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens in 1661, the coat of arms hung over the gate.
The design was nicked by the Vauxhall Ironworks, which started car making in 1903, and retained it after a move to Luton.
Reference: Telegraph.co.uk Article | Posted in categories: [Other] | Comments | |
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