I worked many years for (the old) General Motors at the corner of Ellsworth and Elliot roads. Not for a GM dealership or some other auto-related enterprise, but at the GM Desert Proving Ground — “The DPG” as it was termed.
No, it’s not “the GM Proving Grounds” or something else, as is most often cited. You people and others in the media need to do your research. GM had many proving ground operations: one for cold-weather testing up in Canada; one for altitude testing near Pikes Peak, Colo.; the largest operation in Milford, Mich. — the “Milford Proving Grounds” (the S is very important, apparently); and the former Desert Proving Ground in Mesa, whose operations are now limping along out in Yuma.
The DPG began operations in 1953, and when I was transferred out to Mesa from Michigan in 1987, it was drilled into me: you work at, you work for, THE DPG, the Desert Proving Ground — even to the exclusion of General Motors Corporation. It was nearly a daily mantra, and you never mixed up The Milford Proving Grounds and The DPG. So you need to get it correct as you continue writing about new developments, and respecting old entities, out in the East Valley.
John Latson
Mesa
Dale Whiting posted at 10:13 am on Thu, Jul 12, 2012.
John?
So what?
Doesn't a rose by some other name smell the same? Apparently not at GM!
Cerulean posted at 10:44 am on Thu, Jul 12, 2012.
I am grateful for the DPG. My car rarely if never overheats, which I attribute to observations and work done at the DPG.
I will always remember in the days of old and the I-17 Black Canyon test of ‘who could make it to the top the fastest without overheating’. There were inevitably a half-dozen or more who did not pass the test. I would pass them, strewn and stranded with hoods open, steam billowing from the engine by the wayside. My trick was to turn off the AC just after Black Canyon City. I still do, actually.
downtownresident posted at 12:54 pm on Thu, Jul 12, 2012.
John,
Quit living in the past. It doesn't belong to GM any more.
Let's just call it the newest urban disaster in the state.
VofReason posted at 12:57 pm on Thu, Jul 12, 2012.
Agree with Dale. So what.
Dale Whiting posted at 5:35 am on Fri, Jul 13, 2012.
John,
I certainly am not an expert on the names the various automobile manufacturers have applied to their R&D facilities. But here in "the valley" when I read about proving grounds, I want to know which "valley proving grounds" is being discussed. It is GM's or is it Chrysler's? What name did GM apply to Chrysler's proving grounds?
When someone says to me "proving grounds" I think of Yuma, Dugway or Aberdeen (US Army proving grounds) as well as GM and Chrysler. Apparently in your mind the list is composed of only GM facilities. So What!
sockratties posted at 5:39 pm on Sat, Jul 14, 2012.
[tongue]Cerulean… you might think of getting a new car. You can actually leave the A.C. running on the newer models.