Millbrook Proving Ground

Millbrook Proving Ground is an English vehicle testing centre located at Millbrook, Bedfordshire. One of the largest vehicle testing centres in Europe, it is near to the M1 and Milton Keynes.

History

Modelled on the Milford Proving Ground operated by General Motors in Michigan, Millbrook was opened in the 1960s by the GM subsidiary Vauxhall. Due to the geographical needs of a full testing centre, including both hills and flat land, the traditional choice of a former Royal Air Force airfield was ruled out and many sites around the UK were surveyed before the location at Millbrook was decided upon, especially due to having the benefit of being close to Vauxhall's production site at Luton.[1][2]

Construction began in 1968 and once opened in 1970 acted as the testing site for many European GM models from, amongst others, the Vauxhall and Bedford companies. In 1988 the site was transferred to a new company, Millbrook Proving Ground Limited as part of Group Lotus and began to offer its facilities as well to non-GM companies. With the sale of Lotus in 1993 Millbrook was transferred to GM Holdings UK Limited, as an independently managed company and began to diversify into all aspects of vehicle testing including emission control.[1] In October 2013 Rutland Partners announced it exchanged contracts with General Motors for the acquisition of Millbrook Proving Ground Limited for an undisclosed amount with additional funds being made available for the development of new facilities.[3]

Current facilities

The centre provides vehicle test and development facilities including:

These are staffed by engineering teams who work with manufacturers on their test and development programmes.

Millbrook has a wide range of types of test tracks. The most prominent are the:

The proving ground maintains a high standard of security and secrecy to protect the commercial interests of its customers. Public access is not generally permitted and the facility is hidden from view. Limited supervised access to the facilities is available through some driver training organisations.

Film & television

Millbrook has been used in the filming of many television programs and films including:[4]

References

Coordinates: 52°02′36″N 0°32′20″W / 52.04331°N 0.53886°W / 52.04331; -0.53886

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