‘Calling All Twelves’: V-12 Packards Roll Into Packard Proving Grounds
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…
NEW YORK, NY – NOVEMBER 11: A 1938 Packard is driven by veterans along the Veterans Day Parade route on November 11, 2017 in New York City. The largest Veterans Day event in the nation, this year’s parade features thousands of marchers, including military units, civic and youth groups, businesses and high school bands from across the country and veterans of all eras. The U.S. Air Force is this year’s featured service and the grand marshal is space pioneer Buzz Aldrin. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)
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.
After Packard went out of business in the 1950s, the Packard property came under the ownership of the Ford Motor Company, which hosted a transmission factory adjacent to the facility. The Packard Motor Car Foundation was organized to preserve approximately 17 acres of property that contained Packard's site buildings, the boulevard lined with elm trees, and approximately 500 feet of the original paved test track.
Now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Packard Proving Grounds serves as special events space.
According to Hagerty, Packard rose to fame with its two series of V-12–powered cars. The original Twin Six, manufactured from 1916 to 1923, helped cement the brand as a luxury automobile maker. The cars' V-12 engines also served as the basis for World War I “Liberty” engines used in military aircraft and tanks.
The second generation of Packard Twelves debuted in 1932 as the Twin Six but were later rebranded as the Twelve the following year. These vehicles remained in production until 1939. Packard collectors consider the second iteration of the vehicles as the pinnacle of Packard's success and innovation.
