Volvo test track in Wittman, AZ
Autotechnogeoglyphics. If you didn't have to read that term at least a couple of times, slowly, to decipher it, you're probably some sort of freak. But that's the name of a display of aerial photographs taken of automotive test facilities across the United States. The show will be on at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, until August 17 before it moves to the Carnegie Museum of Art from October 4 through January 18.
Among those proving grounds being displayed in the show are GM's facility in Milford, Michigan, and Caterpillar's equipment test mountain. The images were taken by the Center for Land Use Interpretation, which previously displayed photos of parking lots under the heading "Pavement Paradise: American Parking Space".
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
spacegravity4me @ May 2nd 2008 9:57AM
Yay! I'm a freak! :)
Bah @ May 2nd 2008 11:57AM
At least I'm not the only one!
Allan @ May 2nd 2008 10:01AM
At least it's finally confirmed that I'm not a freak...
But anyway... that would be a pretty cool exhibit, IMO. I've seen random shots of some of these but it would be pretty neat to see a collection of them.
F1Mikal @ May 2nd 2008 10:03AM
a collection of circuits via Google earth here:
http://maps.apocalx.com/sport-et-loisirs-parcs-a-themes-stades/circuits-automobile/
Enjoy
(racecar spelled backwards is...)
David(Postal) @ May 2nd 2008 10:22AM
I'd like to see what this caterapillar test mountain looks like. Anyone have pics?
Paul @ May 2nd 2008 10:32AM
+1 - anyone know where it is located? We could use The Google to check it out.
ToM @ May 2nd 2008 12:04PM
There was a Caterpillar test mountain in Buckeye, Arizona, however the land was sold a while back and is now Verrado, a huge master planned community. This community is only about 4-5 years old, so maybe Google earth isn't updated, either way the test road going up the mountain is still there. Anyone travel west on the I-10 towards California can see it as they are leaving Phoenix. It looks like a paved street going straight up the side of the mountain. Looks to be extremely steep. I have no idea if this is the Caterpillar test mountain they are referencing to....I can't imagine there are a lot of them.
Paul @ May 2nd 2008 10:28AM
Wow... I actually want to go to a museum. I think my girl/family will die of shock.
Frank @ May 2nd 2008 10:56AM
Gee, the Volvo test grounds are dominated by a big oval track. They must be a bunch of beer drinking, nascar watching, rednecks who don't give a darn about handling!
/sarcasm
(Something similar like this was posted a while back when an aerial photo of Chrysler's similar looking test facility was posted on Autoblog.)
tankd0g @ May 2nd 2008 11:11AM
When one of the Big 3 finally goes under, I hope to buy one of these tracks for $1 at the tax sale.
BrianM @ May 2nd 2008 1:51PM
I would definately be there out biding at least you! I would be willing to go all the way to $1.02! Actually I would absolutely love to have something like that but I doubt I would be allowed to bid more than $20,000 without the wife walking by with a pair of garden scissors comming to clip my berries.
Benfolio @ May 2nd 2008 11:47AM
There's a test facility near Milwaukee here that does all kind of automotive testing, and has a huge track setup:
They do all kinds of high speed, crash, and military vehicle testing. The CX-7 you see on the NHTSA website was brought to our dealer here and test crashed there. It even had all the markings when they brought it here.
ToM @ May 2nd 2008 12:12PM
Here is a link kinda showing the old Caterpillar proving grounds in Buckeye (picture at the bottom of the page shows it best):
http://www.sprol.com/?p=210
The same developer who bought it, DMB, just bought the old GM proving grounds in Mesa, AZ.
ToM @ May 2nd 2008 12:17PM
Wait, the last picture actually shows construction pictures of what the Caterpillar has turned into. you can still see the road going up the mountain though as well as "Caterpillar Tractor Co" written into the desert floor.