Missy and Gryphon Together again

[Terry]

Hi,

motivated by a passing comment the other day, I dragged the cover off Gryphon and did enough to get Gryphon to the MOA meeting tonight so that it could be parked next to Missy who has recently been restored and on the road again after nearly 20 years.

Why this was a little bit special is because the original Griffin and Missy were built around the same time by two good friends in the early 1980's and while Missy went to Cape York and Griffin did the Canning Stock Route, the Griffin disappeared to a new owner in the late '80s and the two vehicle have never been seen together since.

Missy moved to the NT in 1995 and returned to Melbourne a few years later but was put into storage until restoration work started last year. The Griffin resurfaced in 2002 and I bought it and restored it to become Gryphon in 2006 and except for an outing to the Deni Ute Muster and the first International Moke Day is has been sitting under cover and junk for most of its time here.





Terry

[shorty 68]

I like both there looks.

[Samm]

Terry,

Thats a cool little story now!

Does the Gryphon have many issue that need to be sorted now? From memory there were a few and some from having it just parked up.

Would be good to see some photos of them both from the time of their builds!

Samm

[Terry]

Hi,

the overheating in Gryphon, which I thought was a blown head gasket or poor air flow, turns out to be the unique way I set up the radiator when I rebuilt it is very particular about water levels. Not enough water and the water pump sits there spinning fresh air.

3rd gear problem, which was why Gryphon got banished to storage in 2011, is more of an intermittent problem now where some times you have 3rd gear and some times you don't. The pattern forming seems to be if you are wanting 3rd gear and are thinking about whether you will get 3rd gear when you change tends to mean that you won't get it. However if you are thinking about other things and just do a gear change up from 2nd without consciously thinking about it tends to find you in 3rd gear. 4th to 3rd is like a Unicorn, never seen it.

I will ask Paul about photos of Missy in the early years, but I only have a handful of photos of the Griffin and a couple of snippets of video from back in its day.

Terry

 

[shorty 68]

In one of the posts when was missy in Gove as I lived the in the early 70,s. Love you the place when I was growing up.

[Terry]

Hi,

Missy was in Gove from around mid 1995 to 1997/98.

Terry

[shorty 68]

So who she get out of Gove last time we cam though 1976 I think roads not good for mokes

[dionw]

Think I saw these mokes on this youtube clip

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DX9xq5K5ky0&list=PLoDhNNs5P-Q5YfBslcDafCwgkonZbqNW9&index=22

[Terry]

Think I saw these mokes on this youtube clip

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DX9xq5K5ky0&list=PLoDhNNs5P-Q5YfBslcDafCwgkonZbqNW9&index=22

Just Missy on that Trip, no Griffin.

Terry

[Mick]

It's been quite a while since I've seen Missy and Gryphon together.

At a Motorkhana. Near the old Templestowe hill climb circuit I think.

And at the same event. See, in the background.

[Mick]

On the subject of Missy, at the Seymour Mud Rally.



And Missy giving Gryphon a tow.

Except they forgot the car.

[Terry]

Mick,

thanks for the pictures. That is one of the Griffin I haven't seen before.

It looks like a different year to the bit of video I have of Griffin towing the rolled Moke up the wall at Templestowe. The hardtop  was long gone by the time I got the Moke.

Terry

[Mick]

I stumbled on these ones. Did you know Gryphon had a trailer?

[Terry]

Hi,

I did know it had a trailer and only have one photo of it. It was sold long before the Griffin was and went to someone in Queensland we believe.

It was a pretty serious trailer made from two Moke rear ends.

Terry