Vauxhall Use U.S. Test Station
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XTENSIVE use is being made by Vauxhall Motors, Ltd., of the new 18-acre material-testing field opened by General Motors Corporation two months ago in Florida, U.S.A. The establishment is for weather-testing paint finishes, metals, plated parts, plastics and upholstery fabrics, and can deal with 2,000 samples a month.
Vauxhall are sending samples of both projected materials and current production items for assessment in Florida. Manufacturers of paint and other materials also avail themselves, through the Vauxhall manufacturing research division, of the test-field facilities, which
supplement the existing weathering station at Chaul End, Bedfordshire.
The facilities include a humid room, a large cold room which can accommodate a complete vehicle, and a laboratory which houses, among other equipment, powerful ultra-violet ray arc lights which simulate sunlight Samples of paint passing through the laboratory are subjected to continuous water sprays under the ultra-violet lamps.
Outside the buildings there is accommodation for 5,000 paint samples on portable open-air racks and there are 15 50-ft. racks under glass for the exposure of items not normally subjected to rainfall.