It all started with a misunderstanding. When the Rüsselsheim-based car manufacturer Opel announced in the early 1960s that it wanted to build a test track in the region around its headquarters – the area near the car factory had become too small – numerous communities applied for the lucrative project. Ultimately, not only was the proceeds from a property sale in prospect, but also 200 jobs for the city. But only a handful of municipalities are said to have met the company’s criteria at the time, including the town of Dudenhofen near Speyer. However, due to an oversight by the post office, we now say that the letter from Opel did not end up in the Palatinate, but in the municipality of the same name in Hesse in the Offenbach district. The mayor at the time, Ludwig Kratz, took advantage of the opportunity and offered the car manufacturer a site in the forest of his town. He actually won the contract: the purchase contract was signed in 1964, and two years later the test facility was opened not far from the headquarters in Rüsselsheim. Autowelt 1967: Men sit behind the wheel, women pose in front of the shiny car. This is how Opel presented the new Commodore.Picture AllianceAlmost six decades later, the future of the test site, where hundreds of vehicles have driven thousands of kilometers since then, is up in the air: This week, the operator of the site, Opel partner Segula, announced that it would immediately stop operating the engine and vehicle stands in Rüsselsheim and on the test track in Rodgau-Dudenhofen. The plant, which has been operated by the French since 2019, is still owned by Opel. The car manufacturer announced this week that it would temporarily shut down the test facility from November 1st. However, there are negotiations with potential future operators. Almost too cool for this world: An Opel GT drives down a slope in Dudenhofen in the 1970s.Picture AllianceWhen it opened on April 1, 1966, the test site was the most modern of its kind in Europe. At that time, Opel not only demonstrated the enormous terrain, but also a car that would become very famous in the following years: the legendary Opel GT, which only came onto the market two years later, did its first laps on the track on the inauguration day. A total of 32 kilometers of roads were embedded in the 260 hectare or 360 football field area. When building the facility, the company’s own magazine “Opel-Post” wrote on the 50th anniversary of its opening, it was a particularly big challenge to build new roads of deliberately poor quality. But they were necessary in order to be able to increase the wear and tear on vehicles. “The creation of unevenness, such as potholes, crests, dips, waves, bumps, etc., when building the asphalt roads sometimes felt as if we were not practicing road construction, but rather abstract art in bitumen and asphalt,” wrote the Opel media in a report. Car paradise hidden in the forest: Aerial view of the entire facility The fact that the forest near Dudenhofen was ideal for the test field and that Opel tried to cut down as few trees as possible for it had more to do with more than just environmental protection. Above all, it was probably about keeping the eyes of possible competitors away from the cars. At the opening, the then Darmstadt district president, Günter Wetzel, said that the site had been integrated into the landscape in such a way that it merged completely with it. At first, people were shocked that a huge area of forest would be developed for car tests, but on the other hand, Wetzel argued, it was also about the safety of the vehicles. And not that many trees were felled. Triplets: Three Opel Insignias race along the four-lane Opel test track in 2012.Picture AllianceThe heart of the roads in the forest is an almost five-kilometer-long, illuminated circuit on which the test drivers can accelerate to 250 km/h on four lanes without having to contend with lateral forces: It is possible to race through the steep curves, which are inclined at 40 degrees, without having to correct the steering wheel. Water marches: An Opel record on a rainy part of the route in what was then the Opel-Testcenter.dpaThe other test routes have different qualities: On the so-called torture route, for example, the cars are subjected to such a load that the entire vehicle life can be completed there in a short time. Where cross rails, potholes and bumpy tracks mistreat vehicles, they accelerate the aging process: one kilometer driven on these roads corresponds to 75 kilometers under normal conditions.More on the topicOn the mountain route, the gearbox and brakes in particular are checked on uphill and downhill gradients with inclination angles between eight and 30 percent, but also traction aids or handbrakes. And the so-called performance area can be flooded so that tires can be tested under different conditions. Investments have been made in the test area for many years; in 2012, almost 30 million euros were released, among other things, for a new measuring section for drive-by noise. In the meantime, around 200 men and women were employed in the Dudenhofen forest. As of this week, it is unclear what will happen next with the test center and the remaining 82 employees.
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