Putting Progress Through Its Paces
Putting Progress Through Its Paces: The Story of the General Motors Proving Ground
Seventh Printing, 1938
Published by General Motors Department of Public Relations
32 pages with photographs
Following the Century of Progress exhibition in Chicago in 1933 and 1934, General Motors published this booklet that details why GM does testing and the types of automobile testing undertaken at the Milford Proving Ground.
The Proving Ground serves two specific purposes:
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The first is to aid in the inception and development of new ideas and new models by having a small, isolated world where the Division engineers, unhindered by countless traffic regulations and without danger to the general public, can perform any tests they desire under all driving conditions.
The second reason is to enable GM to establish indisputable facts about automobiles in general; a place where GM cars can be evaluate against all other products.
A few of the hundreds of tests employed at the Milford Proving Ground are briefly described:
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Belgian block pavement and nine other different types of roads that vehicles are tested on. The Belgian block road is a duplicate of the stretch of road between Antwerp and Brussels. It is a road built of irregularly laid granite blocks and is one of the roughest types of road in modern usage.
Audiometer is used by engineers to accurately measuring and detecting noises. It can search out annoying sounds and trace them to their place of origin.
Bath tub testing determines the waterproof qualities of cars. Cars are driving through this concrete artificial lake which is actually a depressed section of concrete pavement with retaining walls that are filled with water to any desired level.
Fifth wheel is light and as frictionless as possible. Connected to it is a small electric generator. The faster the wheel turns the stronger the electrical current. Miles are read in terms of volts. The generator is fastened on the running board and the fifth wheel is allowed to run along the road beside the car.
Vision testing is necessary because drivers see less of the road due to the inherent nature of the vehicle casting shadows.
“No matter how painstaking the research, how thoroughly the parts are tested before assembly, how accurate the production, there is only one sure way to discover whether or not the product is as it should be…take samples of those tens of thousands of cars to be built, and actually test them.”
Click here to view the entire booklet.