YUMA PROVING GROUND — Pulling up to the newly completed General Motors test complex for the grand opening Wednesday, it was clear this was Chevrolet country.
A line of more than a dozen Corvettes led by the new ZR1 drew lots of aahs and closer looks.
"We heard about the grand opening and suggested we get our Corvettes out to the event to support GM and its employees," Thomas Counts said, speaking of the Arizona Corvette Enthusiasts car club.
Inside the test facility's garage, technicians were tweaking the latest generation of Corvettes, sedans and trucks as visitors who came for the grand opening peered under hoods and slid behind the wheel of a shiny black Camaro just to test the fit.
The GM proving ground was developed on 2,400 acres inside Yuma Proving Ground 30 miles north of Yuma through an agreement between the automaker and the Army. The new test facility replaces GM's complex in Mesa where urban encroachment had brought homes to the edge of the test courses.
People are also reading…
The automaker is assured of protection from urban encroachment and gets to use Yuma Proving Ground's courses. The military gets to use GM's courses to test its equipment.
Construction on the new GM test complex, built at a cost of $100 million, began in late 2007. GM employees moved down from Mesa this spring and by May 18 the new test facility became operational just in time for the busy season for hot weather testing, said Frank West, site manager.
Wednesday, the doors were opened to show off the facility and celebrate its completion.
