In May last year, Vauxhall moved out of Griffin House, a purpose-built headquarters on the outskirts of Luton that it had occupied for nearly half of its 117-year existence. The departure left much more than mere memories: this unique building had contained one of the world’s finest car design studios of the post-war era.
Created specifically to produce new Vauxhall cars, it was commissioned in 1964 as the Vauxhall Engineering and Styling Centre. From day one, it encouraged a hugely productive phase, setting some of Europe’s finest designers to work on often-exotic tasks, unfettered by the needs of global markets.
When it emerged last year that Vauxhall was moving, we negotiated with the building’s new owners to make one last visit, accompanied by several well-known car designers who had built their careers there. Eventually we pulled it off, visiting this crucible of creativity with Peter Birtwhistle, Ken Greenley and John Heffernan, each of whom will forever have his name against at least one iconic model.
Vauxhall’s centre was one of five independent studios in non-US parts of the General Motors (GM) world. It could take an idea from a simple sheet of paper and make a production car. It did so repeatedly, building Vauxhalls for the showroom and adding some of the world’s most far-sighted concept cars into the bargain.
The idea seems incredible today, when global car designs must share multiple components to have any chance of profitability. The era didn’t last, mind. Its heyday ran roughly from the advent of he 1963 Viva HA to the late 1970s, when it dawned upon GM’s bigwigs that vast sums could be saved if Opel and Vauxhall built the same cars, badged differently.
The centre was huge, given that it was only for car creation. Soon after its opening, a proud Vauxhall brochure proclaimed, in the parlance of the day, that its inmates were “2000 men with a single objective”. The ground and first floors housed 500 engineers, with 350 draughtsmen a floor above. Behind that stood the super-secret design department, a collection of six separate studios and a bigger viewing space supported by its own engineering library, fabrication shop, trim shop, parts store and surgery.
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Gratitude
Living in the past............
We are a nation living in the past...........all the great things we ever did was in the past. The last "Vauxhall" designed in England was the Chevette & that was based on an Opel floor pan & people still think it's a British brand!!! How stupid we are, most Vauxhall's are made in Spain & the company is French owned, but the British are convinced it's still UK made! We'll never compete again with the Germans because they are forward thinking, we're stuck in the Sixties with our mentality. Back in the Seventies/Eighties Ford & Vauxhall cars had "bling" value, today it's Mercedes & BMW that have that.
@scotty5
Actually Scotty I dont work at Vauxhall and never have.... as I said 'client meetings' !
I wouldnt argue that Vauxhall has failed to produce what the consumer wants. 30 years ago Vauxhall or Ford would never have forseen Skoda/Kia/Hyundai being where they are today. All three have taken market share from both brands. But what is an unavoidable fact is that through the auspices of cheap money, high residuals/final values on leases/pcp's, this has allowed the consumer to have aspirations far above what they would ever had in the past.....If you can have an Audi/BMW/M-B for £299 pm or a Ford/Vauxhall for the same (or possibly more), which do you think is going to get the deal? Consequently these are now some of the most prolific brands on the road. I cant remember the last time i saw a new Mondeo or Insignia on the road.
Vauxhall and Ford were unable to go 'down market' financially it didnt stack-up ( Dacia have been very successful at this price level), ....hence the rock and a hard place comment.
As for you Scotty, it was your choice to pay a premium for a '2 door Cavalier' in the form of a Calibra, so why so angry about it?
Good response! Beyond any
Good response! Beyond any doubt that the premium German brands have stolen market share from Ford/Vauxhall, so don't know what triggered Scotty so badly. Anyway, end of an era.