On Saturday, we had an amazing opportunity! Mark McGowan – yes, the same Mark McGowan that took the Nardo car to 212mph – gave a few of us a personal tour of the Volvo Proving Grounds. Let me first say that we were limited in the number of people who could go, so I apologize to our fellow GT owners that I know would have LOVED to go. Second, you need to know that we all signed a confidentiality agreement and our cameras and cell phones were taken by Security before we drove onto the grounds. So here’s just a snippet of what happened:
We all drove our GTs and met at Carefree Hwy and I-17. Then we drove an hour to the proving grounds. We had 3 white GTs – GT38 & Team Jeff, Blue Moose, AZGT – and two yellow GTs: ChipBeck and TimCantwell – and one red, no stripe (with an amazing amount of beautiful carbon fiber) – JBG. The weather was a lovely 70+ degrees and the sky was spotted with clouds. We could see the rain clouds over the mountains in the distance, but there was no rain in the valley. It was an easy, scenic drive through the Sonoran Desert which is still green from spring rains. Once we arrived at the Volvo Proving Grounds, Security graciously confiscated our cameras and cell phones. Mark came to meet us in a 2010 Mustang (convertible, of course) and escorted us onto the grounds. He took a few pictures of us at the entrance. We walked through the offices where Mark told us a little about the GT program. These proving grounds have GT history we didn’t know about; the demo cars were there in 2003. He talked about the trials, tribulations and successes of those early days trying to get the GT ready for production. We walked out to another building which is Mark’s office (when he’s not behind the wheel of a car). Then all 12 of us piled into a Ford Econoline 15-passenger van where Mark proceeded to take us on the various driving courses. I’d love to tell you we took our GTs out, but we didn’t. We had to settle for imagining it from the comforts of the van. Mark did his best to demonstrate the courses with us in the van – we looked like a van full of bobble-heads! We were there just over 2 hours and Mark was gracious and answered a slew of questions from all of us. We saw Amoeba’s (their term for cars in camouflage), a Booger (the car Mark was testing out there – so named because of its color), the new Raptors, and several other unnamable cars. Let’s just say Ford & Volvo’s upcoming lineup is remarkable. After the tour, we drove up to Wickenburg and had dinner at Anita’s. Mark has so many GT stories; we could have talked all night! Mark is an engineer, an avid car-guy, a pilot, a family man – an all-around great guy! It was a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon!
here's a couple pictures:
We all drove our GTs and met at Carefree Hwy and I-17. Then we drove an hour to the proving grounds. We had 3 white GTs – GT38 & Team Jeff, Blue Moose, AZGT – and two yellow GTs: ChipBeck and TimCantwell – and one red, no stripe (with an amazing amount of beautiful carbon fiber) – JBG. The weather was a lovely 70+ degrees and the sky was spotted with clouds. We could see the rain clouds over the mountains in the distance, but there was no rain in the valley. It was an easy, scenic drive through the Sonoran Desert which is still green from spring rains. Once we arrived at the Volvo Proving Grounds, Security graciously confiscated our cameras and cell phones. Mark came to meet us in a 2010 Mustang (convertible, of course) and escorted us onto the grounds. He took a few pictures of us at the entrance. We walked through the offices where Mark told us a little about the GT program. These proving grounds have GT history we didn’t know about; the demo cars were there in 2003. He talked about the trials, tribulations and successes of those early days trying to get the GT ready for production. We walked out to another building which is Mark’s office (when he’s not behind the wheel of a car). Then all 12 of us piled into a Ford Econoline 15-passenger van where Mark proceeded to take us on the various driving courses. I’d love to tell you we took our GTs out, but we didn’t. We had to settle for imagining it from the comforts of the van. Mark did his best to demonstrate the courses with us in the van – we looked like a van full of bobble-heads! We were there just over 2 hours and Mark was gracious and answered a slew of questions from all of us. We saw Amoeba’s (their term for cars in camouflage), a Booger (the car Mark was testing out there – so named because of its color), the new Raptors, and several other unnamable cars. Let’s just say Ford & Volvo’s upcoming lineup is remarkable. After the tour, we drove up to Wickenburg and had dinner at Anita’s. Mark has so many GT stories; we could have talked all night! Mark is an engineer, an avid car-guy, a pilot, a family man – an all-around great guy! It was a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon!
here's a couple pictures:
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