GM’s Milford Proving Grounds Celebrates its Centennial

Few of us are likely to achieve triple digits, but some physical entities do seem to live forever. The Great Pyramids have been around for 46 centuries. Italy’s tower at Pisa started leaning some 850 years ago. Paris’ Arc de Triomphe is 218 years old.

As of September 25, you can add GM’s Michigan proving grounds to this illustrious list, and, at least for car enthusiasts, it’s every bit as cool as any of the above landmarks. First opened in 1924, this facility is but 25 miles from Hagerty’s Ann Arbor editorial office. The 4000-acre site is webbed with 150 miles of test roads, dotted with more than 150 laboratory buildings, and accommodates 4200 or so employees who show up to perfect some important aspect of the vehicles of today and tomorrow. Editor-in-chief Larry Webster recently topped 200 mph on a straightaway here as a right seat observer with the 2025 Corvette ZR1’s test engineer.

This is where crash test dummies were conceived and developed. The same is true for air bags, child safety seats, Super Cruise hands-off driving, and today’s range of battery-electric vehicles. While every major car maker has its own secret test facilities, GM’s Milford facility is the most extensive, exhaustive, and oldest proving grounds on earth.

GM’s current President Mark Reuss began here in 1983, working as a summer intern working on V-6 engine noise and vibration issues.

Credit GM’s 1923-1937 President Alfred Sloan for identifying the need for these extensive test facilities. During World War II, some 680 military vehicles were evaluated at Milford for combat readiness. By 1954, more than 10 million miles of test driving had been conducted. The 4.5-mile circular test track was added in 1964, followed by the aptly named Black Lake of smooth asphalt for vehicle dynamics development in 1968.

Reuss said of Milford: “For me and everyone born with the car lover’s gene, Milford feels like our playground. But that doesn’t stop me from being reminded on every visit that we are the eyes and ears of our customers, responsible for understanding exactly what they expect from every one of our production vehicles.”