Testing secrets revealed as Vauxhall Ellesmere Port hits 5 million

VAUXHALL Ellesmere Port has celebrated a second milestone this year, with the five millionth car rolling off the production line.

The plant, which has nearly 2,000 staff, is toasting its 50th birthday this year, and to mark the occasion has lifted the lid on one of it’s best kept secrets – Ellesmere Port Pete.

Since 1964, Ellesmere Port Pete has been randomly selecting cars – from the Viva, to the Chevette and most recently the Astra – and putting it through its paces on the shop floor.

Ellesmere Port Pete’s work has been celebrated in a new video released by Vauxhall chiefs.

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In a statement, Vauxhall say: “Pete works during the plant’s downtime, and uses EP’s vast body shop to put randomly selected Astras through a variety of tough tests.

“Suspension components are only signed off after Pete has jettisoned an Astra into mid-air and had it land safely, while steering geometry is analysed by completing a half-circuit of the body-shop on two wheels.”

Refecting on 50 years of testing vrious models, Pete says: “The Firenza Droopsnoot was a cracker. It had so much poke that the biggest challenge was not clipping some of the machinery as you drifted it between production lines. And when I got my hands on the first Astra GTE back in ’82, it was by far the fastest thing I’d put through the stillage-chicane in Body Shop. I could hit 60 on a good day.”

Ellesmere Port’s current plant director, Stefan Fesser, was sceptical about the testing when he arrived in 2013.

He states: “Of course, Ellesmere Pete is a legend in GM circles, but I wasn’t convinced until I saw the breadth of his high-speed testing in the plant, and the detailed reports he generates. And you know what? After 50 years, he still does a fantastic job of validating the great quality that comes with every car we produce. Long may he continue.”