Luton’s last passenger car takes its place at Great British Car Journey
The last passenger vehicle to roll off Vauxhall’s Kimpton Road production line in Luton, on 27 December 2003, has found a home in chapter 9 of the Great British Car Journey. The 328,468th Vauxhall Frontera is owned by former Luton North MP Kelvin Hopkins and his son Danny, who is editor of Practical Classics magazine.
A piece of Luton’s 119-year car manufacturing history has taken its place in the story of car production in Britain at Great British Car Journey.
The last passenger vehicle to roll off Vauxhall’s Kimpton Road production line, on 27 December 2003, has found a home in chapter 9 of the museum’s exhibition.
The 328,468th Vauxhall Frontera is owned by former Luton North MP Kelvin Hopkins and his son Danny, who is editor of Practical Classics magazine.
Previously part of the Vauxhall Heritage collection, the Hopkins family purchased the 4×4 at auction in 2021. They pledged to find a future home for the vehicle in a museum and have been looking for the right one since.
Danny explained: “When my family and I bought the last Frontera our aim was always to have it safely displayed in a museum. Since we purchased it, we have put six thousand miles on the car. It deserved a bit of time off and the excellent Great British Car Journey is the perfect place for it to tell its story for now. Our long-term aim, however, is to donate to a future Vauxhall Heritage Museum in Luton.”
Being not only the last Frontera but also the last passenger vehicle to be built at the Luton factory, Richard Usher, founder of Great British Car Journey, was delighted to welcome the Hopkins’ car to the exhibition. He said: “This is a perfect example of a seemingly anonymous vehicle that has an extraordinary place in British motoring history. We are very happy to welcome it to the 150-strong collection of iconic cars and marques in the museum’s exhibition.”
Danny added: “This Frontera is such an important part of the Vauxhall/Bedford story in my hometown. It’s not just any old soft roader, it signifies more than a century of passenger car production in Luton Under our watch, the Frontera became the best-selling off-roader in Europe.
Production of the Frontera began in Luton in 1991 and was built at the Kimpton Road plant for 11 years before production moved overseas as the then owner General Motors Europe restructured the business in an effort to bring the company ‘back to profitable growth’.
After 2003 the Luton factory was completely dedicated to van production. The end of passenger car production at Vauxhall’s Luton car plant 20 years ago came as a huge shock as many considered it as one of the UK’s ‘safest’ car plants.
Kelvin said: “Vauxhall is at the heart of the story of Luton and this Frontera is of huge historical importance, it’s why Danny and I bought it when part of the Vauxhall Heritage collection was sold off. I’m so glad it will now be able to tell its story at Great British Car Journey.”
As MP for Luton between 1997 – 2019, North Kelvin Hopkins played an integral part in the continued production of motor vehicles at the Luton plant. He worked to help create a deal between unions, management and government to secure a future for Vauxhall in the town with the production of the Vivaro/Trafuc van. The electric Vivaro will be produced from next year.
Earlier this year it was announced that Vauxhall owner Stellanntis would begin making electric vehicles at the Luton factory which once produced the Frontera. Production of the Vauxhall Vivaro Electric Van will begin before summer 2025. The Luton factory opened in 1905, with the first commercial vehicles being assembled there in 1932. Luton Vauxhall director Mark Noble said it was “a fitting way” to mark the facility’s 120th anniversary.
You can read about the handover of the Hopkins’ family Frontera in the October edition of Practical Classics. Or, why not come and see it for yourself and learn about its unique history and that of other British models and marques at Great British Car Journey? Details of opening times and ticket prices can be found at here
