FIRST it was crash dummies... now a car maker has some right little monkeys testing how tough their motors are.
Hyundai set its new family car the ultimate wear and tear challenge at Knowsley Safari Park when park baboons were let loose on Hyundai’s i30 hatchback.
The car is designed for families and their ‘little monkeys’ in the back, with extra-strong materials for the interior, easy-wipe plastics, tough fittings and a high-quality steel for the bodywork.
The baboons from Knowsley were chosen for their love of stealing external bits and bobs from park visitors’ – most famously Wayne Rooney’s vehicle when he visited the attraction last year.
It was monkey business as usual when Hyundai parked its i30 family car in the baboon enclosure, as it was besieged by dozens of the park’s primates. But 10 hours later the car emerged virtually unscathed.
The animals simulated the punishment the children of a typical family subject a car to: jumping on seats, pushing buttons and opening and closing storage bins.
Other baboons tested the seat fabric by eating their lunch in the car and some played with their toys in the boot.
To give something back to monkeys for their help, Hyundai has donated £1,000 to one of Knowsley’s supported charities, the Primate Society of Great Britain, which works in conservation and captive care of new and old world monkeys, gibbons and apes.
“For a baboon to have a car to play with for a day is manna from heaven,” said David Ross, general manager at Knowsley Safari Park.
“I’ve seen thousands of cars pass through this enclosure and get mobbed by monkeys, and none have lasted the distance as well as this Hyundai.
“These baboons are incredibly inquisitive. If you put them on a car they will scour it for the weak points and find any faults. At one point there were 40 monkeys in the car, pushing it to its limits – that’s 10 times the size of the average human family.”
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