Welcome to MotorCities National Heritage Area (MotorCities), where you can Experience Everything Automotive! We invite you to join us as we take a drive down memory lane, gaze into the future and share with you an amazing automotive journey.
Pull out a calendar, road map and pen, and let the fun begin! We invite you to browse the many wonderful automotive museums, homes and gardens, tours and sporting events located in MotorCities and plot your path through the heart of the American automotive industry. If you need help, we're ready to jump in! Whether your visit lasts a few hours or a few days, you are guaranteed an exciting variety of places to see and things to do.
With over 100 sites and experiences waiting to be explored, go ahead and choose your category of interest - and get ready to Experience Everything Automotive!
As the regions forests had been depleted, the lumber company of Begole, Fox and Company reinvented itself as the Flint Wagon Works and in 1903 purchased the Buick Motor Company of Detroit. With the help of the Durant-Dort Carriage Company, Mr. Buick organized one of the oldest car companies in North America, Buick Motor Company.
After the nearby Dodge plant opened in 1914, the small village of 3,500 people ended up growing into a city of 56,000 people by 1930. This stretch of Joseph Campau Avenue became a center of auto dealerships in the metro Detroit area known as Automobile Row.
The Packard Motor Car Company sold the most luxury cars between 1925 and 1942 with the tombstone-shaped grill as their company's trademark. Packard is remembered and celebrated by those all over the world.
The Packard Motor Car Company proved that it could combine luxury and quality time and time again. The company continually tested its products, even under extreme conditions.
This high speed test track was a 2 1/2 mile oval that had 31-degree banked curves which allowed for car to gain speed easily. In addition to the track, there were several miles of nearby off-road courses that challenged Packard cars with pouding conditions such as sand traps and hill climbs.
Packard used the nearly mile-long infield of the Proving Grounds automotive test track as a landing strip to test the manufactured aircraft engines for World War I.
The Proving Grounds was home to the superintendent Charles H. Vincent and his family from 1928 to 1942. Charlie and his wife Lucille raised three daughters during that time, all living the the Lodge.
The Lodge is a landmark that is just north of the main gates of the Packard Proving Grounds. It opened in 1928 and was the site's base of operations. The Packard Motor Car Foundation has done a beautiful job of preserving the building, including it's hardwood floors and slate roof.
When President Franklin D. Roosevelt called for the United States to arm and support the Allies in World War II, Metro Detroit stepped up to the challenge. Hundreds of thousands of Americans built planes, tanks, jeeps and other supplies in Michigan’s auto factories, leading FDR to honor the city as the “great arsenal of democracy.”
Before the Packard Motor Company purchased this land during the 1920's and the almost full sqaure mile of land was wide open space. The site opened in 1928 with a high speed 2 1/2 mile oval track. The Packard Motor Car Foundation still maintains the area as a historic automitve site.