Well, at least it was big for me! I had been talkin to Roger, a great guy I happened to get to know on the Detroityes forum, he is a Packard man and knows a lot of the automotive history in Detroit. I asked him if there was any activity at the Packard Proving Grounds during the week before Woodward Dream Cruise and he mentioned that we could figure something out. He actually arranged Sue, a very friendly Packard volunteer, to do a full tour of the complex just for me!! It was almost embarrassing...thank you again good people...there is so much talk these days about people having changed and that old time good will and generosity is gone but I witnessed quite the opposite on my trip. I wish I can return the favors one day! The test track grounds were originally 560 acres of which 14 remains today. It is evident that the area is quite different to the Packard plant one as the buildings sat almost forgotten a long time, yet there was no major damage done there in that period. Again, so much history here, the track was also completely leased by Chrysler for tank testing during WW2, thus the "Chrysler Building" in the middle.

http://www.packardmotorfdn.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Packard_Proving_Grounds



What is shown above (and remains today) is what can be seen up in the middle of this aerial photo from the 1950:s;



This shot is from 1949;



I wonder if someone has tried to recreate this shot from 1955 inside the tank building?;



This is what you see when entering the grounds from Van Dyke, at one point there was so many trees in front that you couldn't even see the buildings from the road...that might be one factor that helped in saving them;



This is another work by Albert Kahn, it is amazing how much he influenced Detroit;



The interior is being worked on, it is very nice now and it will be a great time machine when finished! You can see a great deal of old photos and stories on the walls aboyut the family who took care of the complex along with stories about other Packard employees that worked there;



There was so much cool historic Packard stuff inside, a few of these chairs were saved from the plant, Sue did not know when that happened. I always wondered how long there was actual Packard stuff inside the plant after Packard left in 1956;





The garage and engineering building;





The original water tower;



This is the back side of the Chrysler built tank facility, the largest building on site;



My favorite Packard, in a great color combo, inside awaiting restoration...it was in great shape already!;



Lots of space here...another time machine, a fantastic place!;



Not to mention what else was inside...the Packard entrance missing from the plant is here..both of them! Along with light fixtures, doors, windows...so happy that some of it is in good hands instead of blood sucking scavengers!;



What about a NOS Packard engine, somewhat bigger than usual!;



Yours truly in the restored timing tower and the short part of the test track that was saved is in the background;



Yeah, got me a piece of the wooden Packard Plant assembly floor too! Thank you again for the tour guys!