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2
ving project
New 700-acre V uxhall Bedford test facility
• Could you drive a vehicle for o miles in a continuous curve at a sustaine 50 mph without touching the steering w eel? Mr. David Heglund, Vauxhall Motors' hairman and managing director, did so I t Friday when, in the presence of a hundre or more closely watching newsmen, he dro the first car to travel on his company's two-mile circular, high-speed track which a major feature of Vauxhall's new 700-acr proving ground in Bedfordshire.
Laying of the concrete surfa of the five-lane banked track began last onth and completion of the two inner lanes, designed for "hands off" speeds of 40 and 50 mph, was made only two days before r. Heglund undertook the inaugural lap. hen the other three lanes are Iftin a fe weeks' time constant "no hancIr-laps be possible at 60, 75 and 100 mph. Sp ds up to 125 mph will be safely attainab e in the outer lane.
The whole of the first stage in the construction, begun in April 1968, is to be completed towards the end of t year. In addition to the high-speed circuit, his stage will include a number of other facilities needed for continuous vehicle urability testing away from public roads d under controlled conditions.
Among these facilities will be
system of test hill routes, with gradients ranging from 26 to 6 per cent; Belgian pave circuit nearly a mile in len h, hand laid with 3,500 tons of granite blocks; and deep and shallow fresh and salt water troughs. A safety engineering laboratory, incorporating Europe's first impact sled crash simulator; an exhaust emission laboratory; and an external barrier-in site are also scheduled for compl year.
The second stage, to be constr ing 1970, will add many more ve ing facilities, including a one-mile, straight, with entry and exit slope pact test tion this cted dur'de testfour-lane enabling vehicles to enter the straight at up to 100 mph; steering pad and circular handling complex; a truck "rough track"; a crosscountry course; a handling circuit; standard truck test slopes; a dust tunnel and several types of special-surface tracks.
In the building of the proving ground two million tons of earth have so far been excavated. When the project is completed it will incorporate 131 miles of roads and tracks, ranging from five-lane concrete to narrow, cross-country routes, all surfaces and bridges being capable of carrying vehicles up to 45 tons g.v.w.
Before choosing the location for the new proving ground Vauxhall had examined several other sites in various parts of the country. The terrain finally selected consisted of two adjacent, disused farms, both of which had been up for sale. This ground, situated between the villages of Lidington and Millbrook in the Woburn-Ampthill district, is 18 miles from the company's Luton plant and can be reached from there by car in under 30 minutes, mainly by MI motorway. To make it accessible, the main contractors, Fitzpatrick and Son (Contractors) Ltd., had to build a new public road diversion approximately one-mile long. The land is flat on the north side, with hills rising to 200ft on the south and the whole area is 12 times as large as the existing Chaul End proving ground.
After his opening lap Mr. Heglund said: "Vauxhall have always invested heavily in test and development facilities. This new proving ground, which will be the most advanced in Europe, is the biggest investment we have made so far in this field; but we are confident that it will pay us a very good dividend in further improving the qual-' ity of our engineering and the reliability of Vauxhall and Bedford vehicles."
The present cost of the project, said Mr. Heglund, was £2m. and when completed it would be in the region of £31m.