Day – 12
Today’s activities was made up of two visits. The first to the Land Rover Design & Test Facility at Gadon followed by a visit to the British Motor Museum.
Jaguar Land Rover
Unfortunately no cameras were allowed on the first tour and we all had to sign non-disclosure agreement as the tour took us through what is the top secret area within Jaguar Land Rover. We had the opportunity to walk through the complete design, prototype, test and validation areas for all of their new models. We saw all of the test rigs, many in action testing the strength and fatigue capacity of vehicle components, the Rapid Prototyping area which containes 20 very large 3D printers producing high quality components, and even the areas where they strip down competitors cars to see how they are made.
It was extremely interesting to see the extended use use of plastics and Aluminium in the chassis construction. Aluminium has now replaced steel in all Jaguar Land Rover Vehicles. Rather than being welded together they are now riveted and glued. We were told that the rivets holding the panels together while the glue dries.
This was an exceptional tour into the deepest secrets of car design which everyone found very interesting. Thank you to Jaguar Land Rover for this fabulous opportunity.
British Motor Museum
The best way to describe the museum is eye candy for a car enthusiast. Displays included the last ever Land Rover Defender, Paddy Hopkirk’s London to Sydney Marathon Car and lots of Jags.
Tomorrow we are off to Oxford University.
