Detroit Area Test Tracks - Book Review

Book Review:
Detroit Area Test Tracks
Images of America Series from Arcadia Publishing
Written by Michael W. R. Davis

Review By Steve Purdy
Detroit Bureau
TheAutoChannel.com

Until the 1920s automobiles were seldom tested beyond what was necessary just to make them functional. Often a farm field or rough local roads or just city streets constituted test sites. Ransom Olds, in fact, used the park roads of Belle Isle across from his first factory for that purpose.

Little or no thought was given to any kind of comprehensive, scientific testing facilities until 1924 after a design fiasco involving an innovative copper cooling system on the 1923 Chevy caused GM to have to buy back or recall 500 new cars. That became the impetus for the establishment of the industry’s first scientific testing facility near the sleepy little town of Milford, about 45 miles out into the boon docks from downtown Detroit.

Well-known automotive historian, Michael W. R. Davis, has collected and captioned 120 pages of photos illustrating the creation, development and evolution of the major test tracks - or what we mostly call proving grounds - of the major Detroit auto makers. Many of the photos were gleaned from the archives at the National Automotive History Collection (NAHC) of the Detroit Public Library, perhaps the most complete collection of its kind in the world.

Davis, retired from Ford public relations, is a member of the Society of Automotive Historians and a longtime trustee of the NAHC. Early in his career Davis was an automotive journalist and had driven on these tracks, so his insights are particularly interesting and credible. This is his fifth book for Arcadia, publisher of a wide variety of local and regional history books. Davis’ books fit into Arcadia’s Images of America Series.

The cover photo caught my eye. A sharp, sepia photo of a 1939 Chevy sporting a “fifth wheel” measuring device on the Milford, MI test track. It is followed by a 1938 Chevy. The pavement appears fresh and the curbing neat. A technician, or perhaps an engineer, holds a clip board and a stop watch as the two black sedans climb the 11.6% grade testing their hill climbing ability. My personal connection is two-fold: a 1939 Chevy served as first car for me and two of my brothers, and my father-in-law could have been the guy by the side of the road, had the photo been a few years later.

Other than the introduction, Davis provides no narrative beyond the two or three sentence captions accompanying these hundreds of fascinating photos. Within this format he is able to tell the stories with remarkable color and detail. I happen to know the charming Mr. Davis and as I browse this book I can see that wry grin of pleasure he usually has when telling these wonderful stories of automotive history.

Just a couple of examples come to mind. On page 39 in the chapter on the first test track - GM’s Milford facility - a fellow is splayed over the front fender of a ’26 Cadillac with front wheels cranked over to the left. It looks like he’s hugging the headlamp. Davis’ caption talks about the technician or engineer “testing the turning radius of the car by dripping oil or water from the front to help determine the circumference of the turn.”

Then, perhaps his sense of irony got the better of him in a later chapter where he includes a photo of the GM proving grounds photographic department team of 10 people. It’s the only photo in the book that is way out of focus.

In any case, this book is a great one to just browse through. Depending on your age, you’ll see familiar or fascinatingly weird cars and testing processes. You’ll also see how the test tracks were built with new road building techniques and used for testing war time vehicles.

Enjoy!

Detroit Area Test Tracks, $21.99, Arcadia Publishing. Available at local retailers, online bookstores, or through Arcadia Publishing at www.arcadiapublishing.com or (888) 313-2665.