Packard’s flagship 1931 model V-12–powered cars enjoyed a homecoming at the Calling All Twelves: A Salon Special Showing at the Proving Grounds of Packard. The firm’s testing facility is located in what is now Shelby Township, 23 miles north of Packard’s factory on Detroit’s east side.
Hagerty detailed the significance of the Packard Proving Grounds in a report about the event. Built in 1928 at a cost of more than $1 million, the Packard Proving Grounds originally spanned more than 500 acres. They included a 2.5-mile, concrete-paved oval resembling that of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
A Tudor-style lodge on the property housed the facility’s manager and his family, along with an attached dormitory for engineers, mechanics, and other staff. Aviation pioneer Charles Lindbergh used the airplane hangar on site for his plane after landing on the test track’s infield…