Holden Retirees Club

Early Vehicle Testing and

the Proving Ground, Lang Lang, Victoria

At Lang Lang, on the road to Phillip Island, is the 2167 acre GMH Proving Ground.
It could be said that this £606,000 engineering enterprise was born of frustrations—the inability of test engineers to collate reliable data from public roads and highways. Over the time from 1947 to 1954 twelve distinct test routes were used and changing of routes became a continuous process. Test routes ranged from local trips to the Dandenongs to 200 mile excursions up the Hume Highway and return via Woodend and the like. Not only were they interrupted by traffic hazards and uncertainties, but also the composition and contours of roads changed from year to year, rendering useless any data gathered from previous tests.
Engineers have to run tests under controlled conditions as far as circumstances will permit. Only then can they cite performance facts as gospel and set up fixed standards.

GMH wanted a site where a private road system could be surveyed to duplicate virtually any type of surface or gradient in this country. But much more than that, they wanted a proving ground to provide them with a set of constants by which they could measure Holden performance against the actual road conditions, climate, and rigid requirements of Australia.

Harold Ingermells wrote "To obtain the necessary totally enclosed property, four separate adjacent blocks were purchased. The total area of land was bisected by two public road alignments and was located in two rural shires.The two road alignments were purchased after an Act of the Victorian Parliament was passed enabling their purchase to be incorporated into the area. Changes also took place to the Shire boundaries to make all the land purchased located in only one shire the Shire of Cranboume.

The front two blocks of land acquired had been little used after the Second World War These blocks were substantially flat, covered approximately 1100 acres and fronted the Bass Highway. The rear two blocks on which the low hills are located were still Crown Land. They were purchased by General Motors Holden on 15th February 1956 following passage of a Bill authorising the sale, in December 1955.

The two traversing road alignments were purchased by auction as required by the Lang Lang Land Act 1955 - Act number 5928. These rear blocks and the two road alignments were covered with low bush and scrub except in the creek gullies where heavier timber was present.

Lots 87 and 88 were in the Shire Of Cranboume while lots 89C and 89D were in the Shire of Korumburra. The land purchased consisted of lot 87 at the West fronting the Bass Highway 523 acres 1 rood and 30 square rods in area. The lot East of it and sharing a common boundary is lot 88 which is 589 acres 2 roods in area. These two lots were in private ownership when purchased and had in the past been partially cleared but had for some years been neglected and covered with varying amounts of regrowth at the time of purchase.

The road alignment on the East boundary of 88 had been granted a title for Private purchase and had become lot 89E, 7 acres 1 rood and 35 square rods in area. The ex-Crown lot to the East of this is lot 89C and is 829 acres 3 Roods and37 square rods in area. The road alignment to the East boundary of lot 89C was granted the title number of 89F and is 6 acres 2 roods and 22 square rods in area. The most Eastern block is lot 89D and is 211 acres and 5 square rods in area. The total consolidated area purchased is 2168 acres and 9 square roods in area.

Once the site had been purchased a suitable road lay out was devised to utilise the flattish area and the hills to the maximum advantage at the lowest cost. During this process a grid survey of the front two blocks was commissioned by a firm of Surveyors. Also fencing contractors were commissioned to remove existing boundary fencing and erect an eight foot boundary fence approximately ten miles long around the total property."

In 1957, Lang Lang was built in progressive stages. Modelled on the facilities and layout based on the 36 years of experience gained by General Motors in operating its world famous 4010 acre Proving Ground near Milford, U.S.A., and operations at the Corporation's two other main U.S.A. Proving Grounds at Phoenix, Arizona, and Manitou Springs, Colorado.

To build Lang Lang, it meant that more than 250,000 yards of earth had to be excavated and moved for the construction of the durability test roads and hills and speed loop. Over £300,000 alone was spent on constructing the 2.915 mile Speed Loop. In 1958, GM-H spent £200,000 on the land and improvements, not including the main buildings and the proving ground banked track. Since 1958, the property has been improved to now contain 44km of roads including the 4.7km four-lane banked high-speed track, a 5.5km ride and handling track, a 100-metre diameter skid pad and a road section of 1.8km with rumble strips and tram lines.

Improvements in recent times include $8.7 million to renovate and upgrade buildings, and $7.2 million on relaying the banked test track. This 50 ft. wide loop was designed for speeds up to 110 miles an hour with complete safety and has a super elevation of 7.6 feet with a 10 ft. wide apron at the top. Driving in this elevated saucer, in the various speed lanes, is similar to driving on a straight and level speedway.

But speed at a Proving Ground is not, in itself, a test objective. The loop is not there merely to calculate how fast a car will travel. Speed with GMH engineers is an incidental by-product of the reserve horsepower they have provided to make Holdens better, and to give them improved acceleration, pick up and hill climbing. Other high speed tests at the Grounds are used for the more specialised tests of acceleration, braking, and fuel economy.

With the closure of Holden's announced in February, the Proving Ground was to be sold at the end of August, 2020, after completion of the current work.  A sale flyer appeared in early June, leaked to the media.

This page is divided into  number of sections (use links below):

Proving Ground Management

Publications

Durability Test Loops

Documents

Proving Ground Reports 1958/9-1970/1

Aerial Views

Photographs

 HOLDEN PROVING GROUND MANAGERS

Harold Ingamells - 1956-7 Oversaw PG construction for GMH, became Vehicle Test Section head but was not PG Manager.

Jack Joyce - Sep 1957– 1974 First Supervisor. Lived on site.

Chris Shattock - 1974 – 1978

Hugh Videion - 1978 - 1980

Laurie Sparke - 1980 – 12 Mar 1982

Ray Borrett - 13 Mar 1982 – 11 Aug 1984

Tony Brougham - 12 Aug 1984 – Oct 1988

Graham Anderson - Oct 1988 – 31 Mar 1994

Ernie Tamburrini - 01 April 1994 – 06 Feb 1998

Bill Hooper - 07 Feb 1998 – Dec 2001

Adrian Feeney - Dec 2001 – Nov 2004

Chris Malan - Dec 2004 – May 2007

Jacqui Sutherland - May 2007 – Dec 2009

Vito Giaimo - Jan 2010 – 2014

Darren Smales (Acting) - 2014 – 2019

Andrew Gray - 2019 – Present

Publications    

Durability Test loops

Before the building of the new proving Ground at Lang Lang, vehicles were road tested around defined routes on the public roads, ranging from locally around the Dandenongs to trips up the Hume Highway and return via Woodend. New routes were added about yearly.

 Documents:

Annual Report

   Aerial Views:   

   Photographs: