From the Rolls-Royce experimental archive: a quarter of a million communications from Rolls-Royce, 1906 to 1960's. Documents from the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation (SHRMF).
Visit to the General Motors Proving Ground, detailing its facilities, road types, and vehicle testing.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 182\M18\ img024 | |
| Date | 26th November 1930 | |
| C O P Y. Spare The Ace Plant, BEMBRIDGE. 26.11.30. GENERAL MOTORS PROVING GROUND. Greater part of today I spent with 'Oy' at the General Motors Proving Ground; this is about 40 miles from Detroit. We went out there on one of the new 12-cylinder Cadillac. This car is much lighter than the 16-cylinder and has if anything a better acceleration. I will send more particulars of this later. The proving ground covers 12,600 acres, and has 23 miles of road on it. There is a concrete track 4 miles round banked for speeds of 90 to 95 m.p.h. Besides this, they have two straight level concrete stretches 1½ miles long at right angles to each other so that which ever way the wind is blowing they can obtain satisfactory tests. They then have all grades of hills up to 1 in 4 with various surfaces, concrete, gravel, tarmac, they also have 2 miles of bad pave road as you find on the continent. They have another portion of road they can flood with water. All kinds and conditions of roads are there. Electrical timing apparatus all round. In 1929 they ran over 9,000,000 miles of road tests, for 1930 they have averaged 900,000 miles a month. | ||