The top-secret Lang Lang testing site in rural Victoria, which is formerly Holden's proving grounds, is up for sale yet again.
The grounds was used for almost every single Holden model built between 1958 and 2020, when the brand retired. The massive facility was sold following this decision, to Vietnamese automaker VinFast late last year. VinFast bought it for $36.3 million dollars, but now the land is back on the market.
To buy a massive testing site only to sell it a year later, is an interesting decision, and it comes as VinFast shuts down its Australian operations entirely.
When VinFast first shut down its Port Melbourne engineering facility in May this year, Lang Lang remained unaffected. But in a recent statement, the carmakers declared its move back to Vietnam.
"Due to unexpected situations brought about by COVID-19, we have to relocate our operation back to Vietnam to ensure product development progress. In the long-term future, VinFast still considers Australia as one of its strategic markets.”
The Lang Lang facility has a full 44 km of varied test tracks, aimed to replicate the different road conditions found across Australia. This includes asphalt and dirt tracks, a large 100-meter wide skidpan, a high-speed oval with banking, and even an off-road course for testing four-wheel drive models.
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The grounds was built to keep testing away from public view, so it was rare to get a glimpse at what went on behind the fence. But in a video released not long before the closure of Holden, shows race driver Craig Lowndes driving around the facility in a restored Monaro.
The 2167-acre compound houses 128,000 square feet of buildings which includes offices, storage areas and an old emissions testing laboratory.
The the real-estate firm for the property is taking expressions of interest until November 18, with insiders picking the grounds could sell for even more than they did last year.
