Vauxhall logs record up-hill run
2012-11-09 09:23
SETTING RECORDS: The UK's oldest surviving car maker set a record at Shelsley Walsh with Autocar magazine's editor-in-chief, Steve Cropley.
The UK’s oldest surviving car maker joined forces with the world’s oldest car magazine at a purpose-built motorsport venue to set a record
Vauxhall enlisted the help of Autocar magazine’s editor-in-chief, Steve Cropley, to pilot its 321kW Maloo VXR pick-up up the 0.91km track in record time.
The Vauxhall Maloo is a special edition version of the bakkie more recognisable as the Chev Lumina Ute in South Africa, with a high-performance V8 engine and bespoke body kits.
NO STRANGER
Cropley said: “The plan was not just to set an LCV record time at Shelsley, but make it respectable enough to stick for a while, we managed a 38.65 second run.”
Vauxhall is no stranger to Shelsley Walsh, an automobile club that organises sprints, sporting trials and classic car events, cars like its C10 “Prince Henry” and 30-98 models conquered the hil in the early 20th century, setting numerous records.
More recently, the Luton company held the press launch of its Astra GTC model at the track, challenging journalists to set fastest time of the day in a fully-fledged championship.
Mark Constanduros from Shelsley Walsh was delighted with the new record, and said: “We always welcome new ways of tackling the hill, and seeing such an incongruous vehicle blast up the track driven by one of our favourite journalists was quite something. I’m certain that it’ll lay down the gauntlet to manufacturers of other LCVs, though they’ll have to try hard to beat Steve’s time!”
Vauxhall launched the latest generation Maloo into the UK earlier in 2012 powered by a 321kW, 6.2-litre V8 engine driving the rear wheels through a mechanical limited slip differential. It can reach 250km/h and accelerate from 0-96km/h in under five seconds. Maloos are built to order, and cost an equivalent of about R712 000.
