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Vauxhall Heritage Collection heads to temporary home in Ellesmere Port

Vauxhall’s famous Heritage Collection and Archive are set to move from the company’s Griffin House site in January, as plans develop to create an all-new public-facing Heritage Centre in the future. The imminent sale of Vauxhall’s former Luton site means that the Collection will find a new interim home at the company’s Ellesmere Port factory, where a converted 8000 squaremeter building has been set aside for the 60-strong collection, which represents every decade of Vauxhall’s 117-year history.

Ellesmere Port has been the home of Vauxhall’s compact car production for the last 56 years, and is the current manufacturing site for the Astra. The Collection’s temporary custodian, Plant Director Mark Noble, said: ‘ We’re all looking forward to the arrival of these Heritage vehicles, some of which have been manufactured here over the last six decades. We’ve made sure that the area which will house the cars is heated, dry and secure, in keeping with the way the Collection has been stored in its former Luton home for the last 30 years.’

Once relocation has taken place, the Collection will be maintained on site by local classic vehicle specialist, Manor Park Classics, to make sure that all vehicles are preserved to a high standard while in storage. However, around 20 vehicles – a third of the Collection – will still have visibility outside of Ellesmere Port. Currently, 13 Vauxhalls are on display at Stockwood Discovery Centre in Luton as part of the ‘Vauxhall – Made in Luton’ exhibition, which runs until the end of March. A joint venture between Vauxhall and The Culture Trust Luton, the exhibits include the world’s oldest Prince Henry sports car, the rakish 1966 XVR concept car and a beautifully restored 1970 Viva GT.

In addition, Manor Park Classics will provide exposure for six cars at their Runcorn HQ in a bespoke Vauxhall Heritage area, complete with ephemera taken from the old Heritage Centre. Included in Manor Park’s exhibition will be a 1904 6hp Light Car that has entered almost every London to Brighton Veteran Car Run since 1927, a 1926 OE-Type 30-98 owned by Vauxhall for the last 72 years, an original Lotus Carlton press car and – fittingly, given MPC’s proximity to Ellesmere Port – a 1989 Astra GTE Mk2.

Vauxhall’s Heritage Centre also houses an extensive archive, going back as far as the late nineteenth century, when the Vauxhall Iron Works – as the company was then known – was formed, before starting motor car production in 1903. Like the Collection, the Archive will find a new home at another existing Vauxhall site, this time the historic and prominent Toddington Warehouse on the outskirts of Luton.

‘Vauxhall is fully committed to preserving its Heritage Collection and Archive,’ said Simon Hucknall, Vauxhall’s Head of PR and curator of the Collection. 'We are currently developing plans for a new, purpose-built base for the Collection, which will allow it to be public-facing, while also bringing back its working status. This is by no means the work of a minute, but we hope to be able to share more details early next year.’