Holden's old Proving Ground immortalised by Hollywood and a Ford

You cognize erstwhile a Liam Neeson movie pops up, it’s guaranteed to person tons of action, a fewer shootouts and an aged Irish histrion grunting astir however he’s going to instrumentality retired the atrocious guys unless they springiness up and locomotion away.

You don’t expect to spot the location of Holden hosting the Taken superstar.

That’s precisely what happened arsenic the Hollywood accumulation for The Mongoose took implicit Victoria successful 2025, filming astatine a multitude of locations including Castlemaine and Altona.

However, it was the streets of Lang Lang that got the slightest attraction from the media and the nationalist during production, yet it appears to person been 1 of the astir wide utilised locations successful the film.

We’re going to instrumentality you done what we person spotted successful the trailer and amusement you arsenic galore of the existent beingness locations side-by-side.

If you haven’t seen the trailer oregon heard thing astir the upcoming enactment film, here's the rundown:

“Accused of a transgression helium didn’t perpetrate and with thing to lose, a warfare leader (Liam Neeson) leads instrumentality enforcement connected a cross-country car pursuit with the assistance of his brothers successful arms and a sympathetic nationalist rooting for his getaway.”

So yeah, modular Liam Neeson affair.

The car successful question is absorbing too. An S650 Ford Mustang was chosen to co-star with Neeson. Dressed up to look similar a Shelby Super Snake, the existent cars were a premix of four-cylinder Ecoboosts and a “hero” V8 – nary of which were supercharged similar the existent Shelby Super Snake editions.

The irony of a Ford Mustang taking the erstwhile Holden Proving Ground to the metallic surface isn’t mislaid connected america but Mustangs person a beardown past of cinema stardom – Commodores not truthful much.

That said, if you look intimately successful the inheritance of the constabulary pursuit shots, you tin spy a dressed-up Holden Caprice – a car that was really built successful left-hand thrust and shipped to the USA arsenic a constabulary vehicle.

You tin besides spy a blacked-out Caprice gathering its demise successful what we tin lone presume is simply a roadworthy worker's dunger.

We did stock Lang Lang with the accumulation connected a fig of occasions during 2025. At the time, we conscionable presumed they would walk a batch of clip successful post-production utilizing CGI to region the evident Lang Lang sites. Oh, however incorrect we were.

They utilised roads passim the facility. While these shots are wholly retired of context, we tin place a fig of spots we've filmed our contented astatine implicit the years.

In summation to those, they utilised what was known arsenic the “truck route” for the ungraded roadworthy shots wherever a precise CGI Black Hawk chopper is chasing the Mustang.

And the large finale wherever a car is seen flipping down a elevation takes spot retired the backmost of the installation successful an country known arsenic “Tiny Town”. We don’t person immoderate footage of this location, but if you person a look connected Google Maps you tin spot it.

The leader car, arsenic antecedently mentioned, is simply a Ford S650 Mustang with a Shelby assemblage kit. There were a fig of vehicles utilized during the accumulation of the movie – not each past these sorts of shoots – but the ones that did are going connected to unrecorded a 2nd beingness present successful Melbourne.

Mustang Motorsport, the authoritative Shelby trader successful Australia, purchased the vehicles aft the accumulation wrapped up. This is communal signifier for a overseas movie accumulation to merchantability disconnected accumulation vehicles to locals successful an effort to recoup immoderate of the costs of the film.

James Johnson, managing manager of Mustang Motorsport explained the rationale of purchasing these vehicles adjacent earlier radical knew determination was a movie starring them.

“The crushed wherefore we ended up purchasing them is due to the fact that evidently we’re the Shelby store and each those cars, the components and the vehicle, the parts they enactment connected them is what we enactment connected our cars… truthful if idiosyncratic saw that movie and wanted 1 themselves, that’s what we sell," helium said.

The leader of the film, the V8 Mustang, has been returned to showroom information and is presently connected show astatine Lorbek Luxury cars successful Melbourne.

Mr Johnson has hinted immoderate of the Ecoboost versions whitethorn extremity up getting a 2nd beingness too.

"We’ve enactment them backmost to the archetypal colour and I’m going to crook them into way cars. Because they’re left-hand drive, you can’t bash thing with them… So I’ve got immoderate engines… I’ll crook them into immoderate way toys," helium explained.

Mustang Motorsport is readying to merchandise a contented bid documenting the acquisition and reconditioning of the vehicles soon. You tin travel on oregon get your ain Shelby Mustang astatine

While the days of car investigating astatine the Lang Lang Proving Ground are over, we instrumentality immoderate comfortableness knowing that astir each quadrate inch of the installation has been captured connected camera implicit the past fewer years.

Established successful 1957, the 877-hectare installation was liable for investigating and processing General Motors vehicles for 63 years, earlier it was sold to Vietnamese upstart Vinfast for $36,300,000.00. After failing to summation traction successful the section market, Vinfast each but abandoned conveyance investigating successful Australia and opted to rent retired the proving ground.

Here astatine CarExpert, we made it our 2nd home, filming implicit 350 car reviews implicit the past 5 years.

Earlier this twelvemonth it was sold to defence contractor Defendtex for $20,350,000.00, representing a nonaccomplishment of $16m positive operating costs implicit the six years Vinfast held the title.

Vehicle investigating whitethorn person been replaced by rocket testing, but the memories of the Holden Proving Ground volition unrecorded connected everlastingly acknowledgment to cinematic masterpieces similar the CarExpert YouTube channel, and films similar The Mongoose.

The movie is directed by Mark Vanselow and stars Neeson, Marissa Tomei, Ving Rhames and Michael Chiklis.

The Mongoose volition beryllium released successful Australian cinemas connected October 30, 2026.