Luton's Vauxhall exhibition ran six weeks past its advertised closing date and drew nearly 50,000 people. The team now wants the town's other industries.
Luton’s exhibition about the Vauxhall factory drew nearly 50,000 visitors to Stockwood Discovery Centre, and it stayed open six weeks longer than it was advertised to.
The council said on 8 September that Luton Made: Vauxhall ran from Saturday 2 May to Sunday 9 August and that demand had prompted an extension. It did not say what the original closing date was.
Its own launch announcement did. When the exhibition was announced on 20 April, it was billed as running “until Sunday 28 June”. The run was 58 days as advertised. It ended up 100 days, an extension of 42 days.
What the project actually produced
The exhibition was the visible end of a 12-month project funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. According to the council, it gathered:
- more than 80 people contributing memories and stories
- more than 30 hours of new oral history recorded
- more than 160 minutes of archival film digitised
- 75 children from five Luton schools, who helped shape how the stories were told
- a classic car day with more than 60 Vauxhall vehicles spanning the decades
- five heritage vehicles on loan from the British Motor Museum, including the first and the last cars built in Luton
On the oral history, the two council sources do not agree. The closing announcement says more than 30 hours were recorded. The project’s own website, lutonmade.com, describes its second phase as “recording over 50 hours of interviews”. The two may well be counting different things, a raw interview total against catalogued oral history, but the council has not published a note reconciling them.
The project site also describes its first phase in a way the press release does not: “sifting through thousands of uncatalogued photographs found in the basement”.
The detail nobody mentioned: who the exhibition was built for
Stockwood Discovery Centre is free to enter and opens Wednesday to Sunday, 11am to 5pm. What the Luton Made team put around the exhibition is the part worth recording.
Alongside the displays, the project published:
- a large-text version of the exhibition content online, plus a printed accessibility pack from reception
- translations of the exhibition content into Polish and Romanian
- a dementia memory prompt booklet, to support visitors with dementia in going round it
- an audio guide, and filmed interviews from the design studio, the paint shop, the press shop and the assembly line
A dementia prompt booklet is an unusual thing for a local museum show, and it fits this subject exactly. The people most likely to remember the Luton production line first-hand are now in their seventies and eighties.
It opened 15 months after the plant closed
Vauxhall has been in Luton since 1905, when the company moved from the south London suburb it is named after to a site off Kimpton Road. It had become a car manufacturer two years earlier, in 1903. The first model built in Luton was a 1905 7/9hp, and the last passenger car off the line was a 2002 Vectra, after which the plant built vans only. That history is set out by The Culture Trust Luton, which runs Stockwood.
Stellantis confirmed the closure of the Luton van plant on 5 February 2025. The council called it “heartbreaking news and a devastating blow to Luton” and said it was angry that options put forward with the trade unions, local MPs and government to keep the site open had been rejected. That statement came from Cllr Hazel Simmons MBE, then the council’s leader. The authority has had two leaders since, and is now led by Cllr Amjid Ali.
The exhibition opened 15 months after that announcement, in the year Luton marks 150 years of borough status.
What happens next, and the two versions of it
The council’s closing announcement says the Luton Made team “is now exploring opportunities to build on the success of the Vauxhall project by bringing together the stories of the many industries that have shaped Luton”, and that people with a connection to those industries, past or present, are encouraged to come forward.
The project’s own website is more guarded. Under Get Involved it says: “Our project is currently coming to an end, but register your interest below and we’ll be in touch if any new opportunities arise.”
Both are true at once. The funded 12 months are over; whether a second phase is funded is not yet settled, and neither source says who would pay for it.
What it means for you
If you or your family worked at Vauxhall, or at any other Luton industry, the route to contribute is an email address the council’s announcement leaves out: lutonmade@luton.gov.uk. There is also a register-interest form on the project site. Hats, engineering, the airport and the car trade all sit inside what the team says it wants to cover next.
If you missed the exhibition, the material did not vanish with it. Photographs and stories collected through the project are published on the project website, along with the audio guide and the filmed interviews. The September pop-ups at Hat House, Luton Central Library, Frasers Plus and Luton Airport Parkway station, which ran during Heritage Open Days, have now finished.
If you are planning a visit to Stockwood anyway, entry and parking are free, and it holds one of Europe’s largest carriage collections alongside its Luton galleries. More places worth a morning are in things to do in Luton.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Luton Made: Vauxhall exhibition still open?
No. It closed on Sunday 9 August 2026, six weeks after its advertised closing date of 28 June. The pop-up displays that ran at four Luton venues during Heritage Open Days in September have also finished.
How many people saw it?
Nearly 50,000, according to Luton Council, across a run from 2 May to 9 August 2026.
Can I still see the material?
Yes. Photographs, stories, an audio guide and filmed interviews from the design studio, paint shop, press shop and assembly line are published on the project’s website, lutonmade.com.
How do I contribute my own Vauxhall or Luton industry story?
Email lutonmade@luton.gov.uk, or use the register-interest form on the project website. The funded 12 months of the project have ended and a second phase has not been confirmed, so expect a wait.
Sources
- Luton Made: Vauxhall exhibition draws nearly 50,000 visitors, Luton Borough Council, published 8 September 2026, for the visitor total, the run dates and the project’s outputs.
- Vauxhall’s legacy in Luton to be celebrated in new exhibition, Luton Borough Council, published 20 April 2026, for the advertised closing date of 28 June, the British Motor Museum loans and the 150 years of borough status.
- lutonmade.com, the project’s own website, read 21 September 2026, for the project phases, the 50-hour interview figure, the accessibility and translation material, the venue opening times and the contact address.
- Luton council furious at Vauxhall closure confirmation, Luton Borough Council, published 5 February 2025, for the closure date and the council’s response.
- Vauxhall Heritage announces first public exhibition, The Culture Trust Luton, for the 1903 and 1905 dates, the Kimpton Road site, the 1905 7/9hp and the 2002 Vectra.
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