It was on this day in 2002 that car production ceased at Luton’s famous Vauxhall plant after 97 years.

Then known as the Vauxhall Iron Works, the company first came to Luton in 1905 owing to the city’s newly-built power station and excellent rail links and soon began specialising in building niche sporting models such as the Y-Type Y1.

After it was acquired by General Motors in 1925, Vauxhall gradually enjoyed more mass-market appeal and Luton was responsible for producing major league sellers such as the Viva and Cavalier during the 1970’s, as well as the Vectra during the 1990’s.

In the end, it was falling demand for the Vectra which precipitated Luton’s demise and, when a silver V6 Vectra model was rolled out at 10.23am, it officially became the 7,415,045th and final car produced at the plant.

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