Posted on 01/21/2014 10:00:39 AM PST by nascarnation
Packard gave up on its automotive plant in Detroit in 1956, but the 3,500,000-square-foot complex of reinforced concrete remains - if only as remains. It is perhaps just as famous for being ruins as it was when it built cars, still attracting plenty of attention from entrepreneurs, paintballers, vandals and urban spelunkers.
Creative types love them some Packard Plant, too, evidenced by the short film produced by Cantini Pictures when they wanted to test out a homemade motorcycle and an aerial drone. The result is a few minutes of "motocross meets the monument."
Check it out in the video below. And in case it isn't obvious, you probably shouldn't try this at home... nor at the Packard plant. For a more traditional history with lots of photos, a piece in the Detroit Free Press can fill you in.
(Excerpt) Read more at autoblog.com ...
The Way Back Machine?
Yes I believe you are correct.
Many years after the fact I worked in the labs where the Allison V1710 engines were tested during WW2.
I will say they ran the living sh!t out of each engine before shipping it to make sure there were no premature failures.
Agree, but also ironic that so many of Honda’s cars and bikes are now built here in the US.
Lol...yeah, that’s it.
I’ll have to check it out later. Won’t load on my smart phone.
“The first two Packard-built Merlins to be completed were demonstrated on test stands at a special ceremony at the Packard plant in Detroit on August 2, 1941.
Full production began in 1942 and by the end of World War II, 55,873 Merlins had been produced in the U.S.A. The Army Air Forces used the engine almost exclusively in the famed P-51 “Mustang”, for it provided greatly improved high-altitude performance over the Allison V-1710 engine used in earlier series of the airplane. The V-1650 Merlin also replaced the V-1710 in the “F” series of the P-40. The British also used Packard-built Merlin’s during the last three years of the war in their “Spitfire”, “Mosquito”, and “Lancaster” airplanes.”
http://www.456fis.org/PACKARD_V-1650_MERLIN_ENGINE.htm
Things have a long way to go but things are changing in Detroit and other cities would be well advised to keep an eye on what is happening there.
Things like allowing private companies to compete with public services. When it comes to direct personal freedoms I doubt you could find a freer big city in the country. There is now a pro gun police chief who is doing the heavy lifting and there has been a significant drop in the violent crime rate.
There is a lot of Canadian investment going on in Detroit and big financial players are transferring a lot of people to Detroit from NY.
First car I can remember well..at age 6..my dad’s new 1953 Packard Caribbean coupe..the swan hood ornament was gorgeous..and he had those curb feelers on the fenders...I loved to play with them when the car was in the driveway.
A buddy and I had "big plans", years ago, to go buy a bunch of houses that were selling for $1 in Detroit. We were dreaming of being a two-person revitalization team.
PING
Enjoy the audio of this P-51 fly by with the Merlin engine humming along.
http://www.rrbew.co.uk/FeaturePics/MerlinSound.wav
I love the smell of high octane av gas in the morning..
seeing all the graffiti in there, it might be good to use the buddy system when entering.
They were literally tearing up the floor as the last car cleared the line?? I hope it’s in a museum somewhere.
I read that the owner of the Ambassador Bridge is doing an effective job of tying up the land purchase for the new bridge to Windsor. True?
“And in case it isn’t obvious, you probably shouldn’t try this at home.”
Why not? My home is well over 3.5 million square feet.
I’ll bet that makes the Noo Yawkers deliriously happy. /s
ping
40 years of liberal control
The last Packards that were built in Detroit were made in 1956. The car in the picture is, I believe, a 1954 Clipper.
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