PACKARD PROVING GROUNDS A History of the

By Michael Hayward

In 1919, Leon Duray took his Miller Special to the Indianapolis 500 Speedway and set a record speed of 124.08 miles per hour. That record would be broken nine years later in 1928 at the Packard Proving Grounds’ 21/2 mile oval track with a speed of 148.7 miles per hour.

Henry Joy had first come up with the idea of a testing facility for the Packard Automobiles in 1915. He purchased some land for this project but was turned down by the Packard Board of Directors; the board felt that people driving their Packards around would be sufficient to ascertain the shortcomings of the cars. Joy sold the land, which would be the site of the Selfridge Field, a U.S. Air Force Base. However, as a forward thinker, he felt the testing facility could also be used for the production of aircraft engines and airplanes. Packard would soon become involved in the Aviation industry, manufacturing twelve-cylinder Liberty aircraft engines during World War I.

From that time forward, Packard would have an active Aviation Department. Decades later, the Aviation Department was the single most attractive asset when Curtiss-Wright came to rescue Studebaker Packard in 1956.

Packard was not the first automobile company to build a testing facility; that belonged to the Dodge Brothers in 1915. In 1924, General Motors built a testing facility in Milford, 30 miles west of Detroit. With General Motors’ facility in operation, this spurred Packard on to build their own Proving Grounds.

Construction And Layout

In 1925, Alvin Macauley, the President of Packard, finally realized testing cars on the streets of Detroit had its limitations and therefore a proper testing facility had to be built. That year, Macauley purchased 340 acres in Utica, Michigan, some 22 miles north of Detroit. Albert Kahn, the noted architect, was hired to design and supervise construction of the site. Packard would dedicate the Proving Grounds in 1927 and would start a rigorous testing program over left: Packard undergoing water-testing at the Proving Grounds. below: Debut of the 1930 Seventh Packard models to dealers and their wives on September 9, 1929. The Proving Grounds proved an ideal stage for such events. the next several decades; the site would eventually grow to 560 acres.

The entrance to the Proving Ground consisted of wrought iron gates, which opened up to lavishly landscape grounds consisting of flowering trees, roses, and other ornamental landscapes.

The centerpiece of the Proving Grounds was the 2½-mile oval track, four lanes wide with the banked corners rising to a 35-degree slope at the center. For its time, the track was “state of the art.” The track was so perfectly built that one could drive into a curve at 100 MPH at either end and release the steering wheel, and the banking would guide the car around the curve and onto the straightaway.

On the property was the Tudor Revival Lodge and garage buildings, painted in a cream color which contrasted nicely with the multi-colored slate roof, red brickwork, and brown trim. The Lodge was the home of the Proving Grounds Manager and his family. The home featured three fireplaces, nine bedrooms, four bathrooms, hardwood floors, dormitories for visiting dignitaries, and a garage space for eight cars. The building across from the courtyard from the Lodge was the Repair Garage. This building contained experimental and engineering laboratories allowing for the testing of engines, fuels, and lubricants under a variety of conditions.

Packard also used the Proving Grounds, as Joy had once envisioned, for the development and testing of aircraft engines. The company even constructed a runway that led to a 4000-square-foot hangar. Famed aviator

Charles Lindbergh visited the site to test-fly a Packard-powered airplane in 1929.

Besides the “state of the art” track, there were roads consisting of hills one might find in San Francisco, sand laced with muck holes, and one stretch of railroad ties embedded crosswise at one-foot intervals. There was also bumpy country lanes to test suspensions and chassis and ten miles of hairpin curves. When a Packard left the Proving Grounds, it had been driven over every type of terrain. The four-season weather conditions in Michigan added to the challenge. For example, driving conditions often consisted of flooded roads. Packard had its own flooded water crossing to test the ability to keep the body watertight. Flooded roads could dampen the ignition system; Packards took one dunk after another without stalling.

Testing The Packards

Put in charge of the Proving Grounds was Charlie Vincent, the brother of Jesse Vincent, chief engineer at Packard. Charles Vincent’s career included test-driver and mechanic for Thomas-Detroit shortly after the turn of the century. He also had stints at Ferro Machine and Foundry in Cleveland as an experimental engineer and later worked at Hudson during the Super Six development. He was a well-trained, self-educated engineer. Vincent would run the Proving Grounds beginning in 1928, and would remain at Packard until 1947. The second man in charge was race car driver and Indianapolis 500 winner Tommy Milton. He joined Packard in April of 1927, at an annual salary of $7500 per year, a figure indicative of his standing in the automotive community. In the coming years, his signatures on cars tested at Utica would become a standard of excellence.

Under Alvin Macauley’s direction, every new Packard model had to be thoroughly tested at the Proving Grounds. In addition, any new feature such as new engine, transmission, etc. had to be thoroughly tested before going into production. In addition, there had to be an ‘okay’ from Engineering, left: A wonderful photograph showing Charlie Vincent, at left inside stand; J.A. Gilray; and Harold F. Olmsted during the testing

Distribution, and other departments; Each department would have to sign off before the cars were deemed roadworthy.

During the early stages of production of any new model, five cars would be sent to the Proving Grounds for full testing. The cars would be driven for 250 miles to evaluate its operation and then thoroughly inspected for its workmanship. In addition, another one of the cars would be taken on 1000 mile tests which included the 2½-mile oval track and the many road conditions in order to test its endurance. Another car could be driven 2500 miles, and another 25,000 miles. On at least two occasions, a Packard was driven at top speed day and night for seven days and required to reach 15,000 miles, in order to test the stamina and performance of the cars. In 1933, Utica records showed Packards being driven a total of 769,573 miles.

For the first four years of production, every Twin Six or Twelve produced was subject to a 250-mile test run at the Proving Grounds. This included driving cars at maximum speed and a top: Shown at testing are, in foreground, a 1936 1407 phaeton, and in the background a 1936 1407 club sedan. Most all Twelves underwent testing at the Proving Grounds before delivery. middle: A 1936 1401 five-passenger sedan being exercised on the Proving Grounds. bottom: This pre-production 1938 Packard 1605 seven-passenger touring sedan was obviously being used for experimentation outside of its performance; note the non-standard exterior door handles. thorough inspection of the cars. After passing inspection, a certificate was signed by both Charlie Vincent and Tommy Milton and was attached to the right side of the glove box. Once the car passed inspection and any alterations had to be made, the car was sent to the dealership. Alvin Macauley made sure the Proving Grounds would be separate from the other parts of the company so that no political pressure could be placed on Vincent to cut corners in the testing and inspection of the automobiles.

The result of all this testing was that Packard automobiles of the 1920s and 1930s were the Tiffany jewelry of the automotive industry.

The End And Resurrection

During World War II, while Packard was building aircraft engines and marine engines, the company leased out the Proving Grounds to Chrysler, who used them to build and test tanks. This turned out to be a mistake for after the war the once pristine track and the surrounding test roads had been totally destroyed. The facility was almost written off in 1945 as a result, but Packard decided to reconstruct its testing facilities, and the grounds were rebuilt, including the high-speed oval track, and reopened in October 1946.

The track remained in use until Packard’s operations were transferred to South Bend, Indiana in 1956. During the Proving Grounds’ long run, no one was ever killed or injured; this made Charlie Vincent very proud. Today the Packard Proving Grounds are listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Docent tours are given through the Proving Grounds, in addition to weddings along with car shows and other civic events. There is a farmers’ market held between March and October each year.

I would like to thank my niece, Nycole Hayward, for her help on this project along with Rene Moon of the Packard Proving Grounds, docent Dave Dolby at the Packard Proving Grounds, and Chris Slater of the Packard Club. •

By JOHN FARRALL