A car is born Amazing video

[flyingn]

Check this one out.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFYnA1kAntM

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by flyingn

Check this one out.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFYnA1kAntM

Very cool. There were a couple (GM) photos in there that I had not seen before (I especially loved the Corvette assembly photos)

A few comments:

a) The Pontiac assembly line photos were taken at the home plant in Pontiac Michigan (except for F car stuff).

b) The white Firebird convertible shown at 1:03 still exists; if memory serves the 'vert is '67 VIN 002 and the red coupe behind it is VIN 001. Both cars were "discovered" together a couple years ago in a barn near my hometown, auctioned and "restored" by Gas Monkey garage or one of those types of "reality" shows.

c) The AMX shown at :28 reminds me of a story: a black AMX was discovered a number of years ago behind a wall in the Kenosha plant. The car was disassembled and restored by re-running it down the modern assembly line amongst the more generic K cars and modern Chryslers. The completed vehicle was on display in the Chrysler museum in Auburn Hills (until the museum ultimately closed and the collection disbursed).

d) Seeing the "F O R D" letters going on the hood at 3:13 - I have a friend that worked on the assembly line at the Rouge plant as a young man. He mentioned that part of his job was to install the "F" and the "O" on the decklid of the cars; someone else installed the "R" and the "D". I told him it was a good thing he didn't work for STUDEBAKER or he would have been exhausted!

e) At 1:58 you can see the wood blocks that were used for flooring in the GM plants of the time. They provided a cushioning effect if you dropped a tool (or a car part) and also allowed for disassembly in the event of a assembly line update (rerouting), like during model changeover. I hated them because they made the area dark, and were coated with creosote which made them greasy, slippery and smelly. I used to remove my steel toed Redwing shop shoes and put them in the bed of my truck before driving home in an attempt to control the mess and the distinctive smell.

K

[Kurt S]

That Ford video was great. Lots of gritty details that often get glossed over.

You can see JohnZ in the other video. He's off to the left in the red Firebird picture.

Originally Posted by Keith Seymore

d) Seeing the "F O R D" letters going on the hood at 3:13 -

Those were SHELBY letters, btw.

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by Kurt S

That Ford video was great. Lots of gritty details that often get glossed over.

You can see JohnZ in the other video. He's off to the left in the red Firebird picture.


Those were SHELBY letters, btw.

My buddy would have gotten carpal tunnel syndrome...

(lol)

K