Autonomous vehicle (AV) is less and less perceived as science fiction. AV have evolved particularly quickly these past years, but some technological locks still remain. Adverse weather is one of them, and the lack of significant progress limits the deployment of level 3 vehicle autonomy. Intelligent Transport System (ITS) development needs specific physical tests facilities combined with numerical simulations, before massive real-scale tests can be performed. The Cerema Pavin fog & rain platform was created in the 80's and has followed the main adverse weather research and development stakes. The current paper reviews the evolution of this platform through time, pointing out each scientific step in which it was involved in: evaluation of the impact of adverse weather on human and computer vision systems, weather classification, and numerical simulation of fog and rain. This review also outlines the main upcoming perspectives of this unique facility, aiming at addressing the next mobility challenges.