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 Reports 1958/9-1970/1
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
| Year | Title | Description | Link |
| 1964 | Harold Ingamells | Proving Ground Brochure | |
| 1984 | Lang Lang | A brochure showing the activities and facilities at Lang Lang proving Grounds - May 1984 | |
| 1984 | Visitors and Driving Rules | Issued April 1984 to acquaint visitors with acceptable driving behaviour at the Proving ground. | |
| c1990 | Holden Proving Ground | Part of a set of brochures designed to sell Holden's capabilities to potential outside customers |
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.
| 1946-48 | Driving instructions for Testing of Prototypes of 48/215 during years 1944 to 1948 on an 86 mile track around Melbourne | |
| 1947 | "Before Lang Lang" - An account of incidents that occurred while road testing three prototype cars for Project 320 (48-215) - before Lang Lang! | |
| 1952 | Commercial vehicles Durability Test route 1 | |
| 1953 | Commercial vehicles Durability Test route 2 | |
| 1953 | Passenger vehicle Economy Test Route | |
| 1952 | 25,000 Mile Passenger Car Durability Test route 1 | |
| 1952 | 25,000 Mile Passenger Car Durability Test route 2 | |
| 1952 | 25,000 Mile Passenger Car Durability Test route 3 (September) | |
| 1952 | 25,000 Mile Passenger Car Durability Test route 3 (October) | |
| 1953 | 25,000 Mile Passenger Car Durability Test route 4 | |
| 1954 | 25,000 Mile Passenger Car Durability Test route 5 | |
| 1955 | 25,000 Mile Passenger Car Durability Test route 6 | |
| 1956 | 25,000 Mile Passenger Car Durability Test route 7 (May) | |
| 1956 | 25,000 Mile Passenger Car Durability Test route 8 (October) | |
| 1956 | 25,000 Mile Passenger Car Durability Test route 9 (November) | |
| 1957 | 25,000 Mile Passenger Car Durability Test route 10 |
| Year | Contributor | Description | Link |
| Pre-1957 | Harold Ingamells | History of GM-H Durability Testing | |
| 1955 Nov 24 | Neil Pogson | GMH buys land for Proving Ground at Lang Lang | |
| 1955 Dec 13 | Neil Pogson | Lang Lang Land Act 1955 - Act 5928 | |
| 1956 | Neil Pogson | Details of Proving Ground Crown Grants | JPG |
| 1954-57 | Harold Ingamells | Building the Proving Ground (refer also Parish map below) | |
| 1978 | Neil Pogson | Parish Map of Lang Lang showing GMH Proving ground plots | JPG |
| Pre-1957 | Harold Ingamells | History of GM-H Durability Testing | |
| 1954-57 | Harold Ingamells | Building the Proving Ground | |
| 1957 Apr 26 | Neil Pogson | GMH Proving Ground will operate soon | |
| 1957 | Chris Shattock | The story of The Great Kangaroo Hunt at the Proving Ground | |
| 1964 | Harold Ingamells | Proving Ground Brochure | |
| 1973 | Chris Shattock | Nullabor - Ivy Tanks as remembered by Hugh Videion and Chris Shattock | |
| 1974-78 | Chris Shattock | PG Manager recalls "interesting times" at the PG | |
| 1981 | Harold Ingamells | Request for Commercial Vehicle Test Trip to Bourke | |
| 2014 | Holden | Holden retains iconic Lang Lang Proving Ground | |
| 2018 | Holden | Holden's PG Ready for next generation of Holden nameplates | |
| 1957 on | Holden | List of Proving Ground Managers (with comments) | |
| 2020 | Warwick Bryce | Secret war time RAAF Landing Ground at Lang Lang | |
| 2020 Jun 04 | Neil Pogson | Leaked copy of CBRE flyer advertising the sale of the proving ground. | |
| 2020 Sep 9 | Go Auto Magazine | Holden announces sale of PG to Vinfast group | |
| 2020 Oct 08 | Hugh Videion | The Inside Track - Hugh Videion's memories of being the PG Manager. |
| Proving Ground Annual Report 1958 - 1959 | |
| Proving Ground Annual Report 1959 - 1960 | |
| Proving Ground Annual Report 1960 - 1961 | |
| Proving Ground Annual Report 1961 - 1962 | |
| Proving Ground Annual Report 1962 - 1963 | |
| Proving Ground Annual Report 1963 - 1964 | |
| Proving Ground Annual Report 1964 - 1965 | |
| Proving Ground Annual Report 1965 - 1966 | |
| Proving Ground Annual Report 1966 - 1967 | |
| Proving Ground Annual Report 1967 - 1968 | |
| Proving Ground Annual Report 1968 - 1969 | |
| Proving Ground Annual Report 1969 - 1970 | |
| Proving Ground Annual Report 1970 - 1971 |
| Year/s | Content | Link |
| 1970 | View of Test Buildings from South | JPG |
| 1970 | View of Test Buildings from South-East | JPG |
| c1972 | Aerial view from west | JPG |
| Contributor | Year/s | Content | Link |
| Harold Ingamells | 1956 | The Age advertisement calling for Tenders to build the Speed Loop | JPG |
| Harold Ingamells | 1956-7 | 5.78% Hill road 1 | JPG |
| Harold Ingamells | 1956-7 | 5.78% Hill road 2 | JPG |
| Harold Ingamells | 1956-7 | 15.5% Hill road top view | JPG |
| Harold Ingamells | 1956-7 | 15.5% Hill road general view | JPG |
| Harold Ingamells | 1956-7 | 15.5% Hill road | JPG |
| Harold Ingamells | 1956-7 | 15.5% Hill road | JPG |
| Harold Ingamells | 1956-7 | Vehicle ascending 16.0% Hill road on unimproved section | JPG |
| Harold Ingamells | 1956-7 | 24% Hill as built | JPG |
| Harold Ingamells | 1956-7 | Vehicle ascending 24.2% Hill road on unimproved section | JPG |
| Harold Ingamells | 1956-7 | Access Road inside loop | JPG |
| Harold Ingamells | 1956-7 | Access Road inside loop | JPG |
| Harold Ingamells | 1956-7 | Access Road outside loop | JPG |
| Harold Ingamells | 1956-7 | Administration Building Interior | JPG |
| Harold Ingamells | 1956-7 | Barrier Test Set-up | JPG |
| Harold Ingamells | 1956-7 | Brake road, leaving Ride and Handling road | JPG |
| Harold Ingamells | 1956-7 | Brake Road, looking East | JPG |
| Harold Ingamells | 1956-7 | Canteen Exterior | JPG |
| Harold Ingamells | 1956-7 | Canteen Interior | JPG |
| Harold Ingamells | 1956-7 | Construction road, Westernport Bay, S-E portion of Speed Loop clearing (arrow) | JPG |
| Harold Ingamells | 1956-7 | Entrance road and Guardhouse | JPG |
| Harold Ingamells | 1956-7 | Fire Tender and Day Shift Fire Squad | JPG |
| Harold Ingamells | 1956-7 | Fuel Station, Car Wash, and Grease Store | JPG |
| Harold Ingamells | 1956-7 | Hill Route, hair pin bend 1 | JPG |
| Harold Ingamells | 1956-7 | Hill Route, hair pin bend 2 | JPG |
| Harold Ingamells | 1956-7 | Hill Route, unimproved section | JPG |
| Harold Ingamells | 1956-7 | Hill Route, unimproved section | JPG |
| Harold Ingamells | 1956-7 | Hill Route, unimproved section, highest point with view to Westernport Bay | JPG |
| Harold Ingamells | 1956-7 | Laying Asphalt 1 | JPG |
| Harold Ingamells | 1956-7 | Laying Asphalt 2 | JPG |
| Harold Ingamells | 1956-7 | Noise road, South East Loop | JPG |
| Harold Ingamells | 1956-7 | Ride and Handling road, Noise Test road on right | JPG |
| Harold Ingamells | 1956-7 | Ride and Handling road 1 | JPG |
| Harold Ingamells | 1956-7 | Ride and Handling road 2 | JPG |
| Harold Ingamells | 1956-7 | Ride and Handling road 3 | JPG |
| Harold Ingamells | 1956-7 | Rough Track- 4 inch gravel section | JPG |
| Harold Ingamells | 1956-7 | Rough Track | JPG |
| Harold Ingamells | 1956-7 | Rough Track - Belgian Block section 1 | JPG |
| Harold Ingamells | 1956-7 | Rough Track, Belgian Block Section 2 | JPG |
| Harold Ingamells | 1956-7 | Rough Track, Concrete Pot hole section | JPG |
| Harold Ingamells | 1956-7 | Rough Track, Rib Road section | JPG |
| Harold Ingamells | 1956-7 | Rough Track, Rib Road section 2 | JPG |
| Harold Ingamells | 1956-7 | General view of Service Building from Access Rd Intersection | JPG |
| Harold Ingamells | 1956-7 | General view of Service Building from the Entrance Rd | JPG |
| Harold Ingamells | 1956-7 | Skid Pad under construction | JPG |
| Harold Ingamells | 1956-7 | Speed Loop under construction | JPG |
| Harold Ingamells | 1956-7 | Speed Loop under construction 2 | JPG |
| Harold Ingamells | 1956-7 | Speed Loop unfinished, from top of Underpass | JPG |
| Harold Ingamells | 1956-7 | Speed Loop unfinished, view of the Underpass | JPG |
| Harold Ingamells | 1956-7 | Test Centre and Admin building in construction 1 | JPG |
| Harold Ingamells | 1956-7 | Test Centre and Admin building in construction 2 | JPG |
| Harold Ingamells | 1956-7 | Test Centre and Admin building in construction 3 | JPG |
| Harold Ingamells | 1956-7 | Test Centre and Admin building in construction 4 | JPG |
| Harold Ingamells | 1956-7 | Test Centre and Admin building in construction 5 | JPG |
| Harold Ingamells | 1956-7 | Test Centre and Admin building in construction 6 | JPG |
| Harold Ingamells | 1956-7 | Test Centre and Admin building in construction 7 | JPG |
| Harold Ingamells | 1956-7 | Test Centre and Admin building in construction 8 | JPG |
| Harold Ingamells | 1956-7 | Test Centre and Admin building in construction 9 | JPG |
| Harold Ingamells | 1956-7 | Test Centre and Admin building in construction 10 | JPG |
| Harold Ingamells | 1956-7 | Test Centre and Admin building in construction 11 | JPG |
| Harold Ingamells | 1956-7 | Test Centre and Admin building in construction 12 | JPG |
| Harold Ingamells | 1956-7 | Vehicle running through 100 foot water splash | JPG |
| Harold Ingamells | 1956-7 | Water tank installation, including Pump House for sprinkler system. | JPG |
| Doug Mennie | 1970 | GTR-X at Lang Lang 1 | JPG |
| Doug Mennie | 1970 | GTR-X at Lang Lang 2 | JPG |
| Holden | 1970 | GTR-X on the circular track | JPG |
| Adrian Feeney | 1976 | Proving Ground staff | JPG |
| Holden | 1993 | Resurfacing the High Speed Loop at Lang Lang | |
| Adrian Feeney | c.2000 | Bev Dipaola (first female test driver) with Allen George | JPG |
| Holden | 2000 | RoboRoo Series 2 | JPG |
| Adrian Feeney | 2003 | Resurfacing the Circular Track | JPG |