Millbrook Proving Ground, located at Millbrook, Bedfordshire, is one of the largest vehicle testing centres in Europe. It is close to the M1 motorway and to and Bedford.
History Modelled on the Milford Proving Ground operated by General Motors (GM) in Michigan, construction began in 1968. It was created by GM's UK subsidiary Bedford before control was transferred to GM's Vauxhall brand. A first class proving ground requires both hills and flat land, so the traditional choice of a former Royal Air Force airfield, used by many other automotive companies, was ruled out. Many sites around the UK were surveyed before Millbrook chosen. It had the additional benefit of being close to Vauxhall's production site at Luton.History Millbrook Proving Ground
Construction began in 1968, and once it opened in 1970 it became the test site for many European GM subsidiaries including Vauxhall and Bedford.
When Bedford withdrew from the bus and truck markets in December 1986, GM put Millbrook up for sale.GM's Millbrook up for sale Commercial Motor 25 June 1987 In 1988, the site was transferred to a new company, Millbrook Proving Ground Limited as part of Lotus and it offered its facilities to non-GM companies. When GM sold Lotus in 1993, Millbrook was transferred to GM Holdings UK Limited, as an independently managed company which diversified into all aspects of vehicle testing including emission control. In October 2013, it was purchased by Rutland Partners.Investment in Milbrook Rutland Partners 3 October 2013 In September 2016 it was sold to Spectris.Acquisition of Millbrook Group Spectris 2 September 2016 In December 2020 it was announced that Millbrook would be divested from the Spectris portfolio of companies and acquired by UTAC CERAM for £133 million.Divestment of Brüel & Kjær Vibro and Millbrook Spectris 10 December 2020 The sale was completed on 2 February 2021.Divestment of Millbrook completed Spectris 02 February 2021
Current facilities
The centre provides vehicle test and development facilities including: Vehicle and system assessment Powertrain development Safety testing. Climate controlled chamber that can simulate conditions from -20 to +50 °CInside Millbrook's new emissions test facility The Engineer 10 January 2017 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: Hill Route – divided into three sections or loops which contain progressively steeper gradients as well as many tight corners. Sometimes seen in motoring television programmes, for example Top Gear, particularly the "ski-jump" where it is very easy for vehicles to become airborne. Outer and Inner Handling (or City Course) circuits – extremely technical twisty circuits used for extreme testing of vehicle dynamic characteristics. High Speed Bowl – a two-mile banked circuit used for higher speed testing.
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 and television Millbrook has been used in the filming of many television programmes and films including:Video Portfolio Milbrook Proving Ground Casino Royale Britain's Worst Driver Top Gear: Series 6, episode 2 Series 8, episode 1 Series 10, episode 7 Series 12, episode 1 Series 28, episode 2 The Grand Tour: Series 3, episode 9 Chris Moyles Show - Car Roulette Competition Wheeler Dealers Fifth Gear Samsung SM510 truck commercial (1994, South Korea)
External links Official website Collection of historic documents on the Millbrook Proving Ground
References