Re: One Story Assembly Plant What If?

Posted by Steve203 On 2014/5/15 13:31:16

I'm talking about allowing close proximity of a competitor to the core of your advance product testing and development facility.

I agree, it's not ideal, but Packard could have used the $15-$20M cash that Hydramatic might have paid for the Utica plant. The track wasn't secure anyway, and it was obsolete, it didn't even have a skidpad.

In the late 30s, before GM built the Milford facility, Packard leased it's track to Cadillac.

<i>We seem to have our hands full just flushing all the spy photographers out of nearby tall trees!</i>

When you drive eastbound on I-94, you can easily tell when you are passing the Chrysler proving grounds in Chelsea. The low fence that doesn't even keep deer off the freeway is replaced by a very tall, barb wire topped fence, with a clear kill zone on the other side, then thick forest.

Chrysler didn't have a proving ground until the Chelsea facility was built in 54. Hudson never had a proving ground at all.

Who knows, if Packard had sold the track to Hydramatic, along with the plant, then run it's test cars on streets more, instead of at the track, the flaws in the 55 Ultramatic might have shown up sooner and been corrected before production started.