i remember seeing many pictures of this huge plant being constructed. it is a shame that it is gone. i guess what it boiled down to was poor quality of vehicles produced in north america, the oil embargo, a lack of smaller vehicles in production, cheap foreign vehicles, etc. the list goes on. yes, there definitely is a whole generation that believes we produce nothing but junk and that foreign cars are the best. i owned a foreign made car, from new. it was a 75 datsun 710 2dr ht. it was a "PIECE OF JUNK". at 28000 miles, it burned a quart of oil a week. two months after the warranty expired, the rear seat covering fell apart. that was my first and last japanese car.
Very true, but these ads have been running long enough that I am sure that Ford would have responded in kind if there wern't a bit of truth to them.
2011 Silverado http://www.mlive.com/business/mid-michigan/index.ssf/2010/07/general_motors_flint_truck_ass.html
For 2012 LaCrosse - Faifax, KS Regal - Oshawa Ontario Canada Verano - Orion Michigan Enclave - Delta Township Michigan Only Buick ever built in MX for US was Rendezvous.
That is very sad. Hallowed ground indeed. Those 71 pictures 75 Riv posted are much happier even with the snow. My 71 could be in that swarm of cars.
I would be in for a brick as well. My Buick came from this plant, and it is sad to see real craftsmanship go the to the wayside. It is sad sight to see. I love the pictures of the storage cars from 71. Mine wasn't born till 76, but I am sure if they got together, they would run around and play happily lol.
The "BEST" post I have seen on here in a long time! THANKS. And yes, my car was born in Flint in June of '72. and yes, I am the original owner. Since 1955 I have owned 22 Fords/Lincoln/Mercury one GM (1972 Buick Skylark) and one Mopar 1984 Dodge B250 Van. No foreign crap here! And yes, I blame the unions..... working at GE the union boss told us to "slow down" so we wouldn't kill the job. Now there is no job. End of story.:rant:
The Buick Dealers of the Phila Zone would rant and rave to management in many Dealer meetings in regards to standing up to the unions before it was too late as they were sucking the life out of the automoble industry. Their demands went up and the quality of work went down. I cringed everytime I checked in a car off the carrier. The imports took advantage, and the big 3's big wheels did little to stop it. Greed on both sides of the table ruined it for many including the many good folks at both our local plants (GM and Chrysler) in my back yard, Wilm, DE. As sad as it is, I am still proud to have been a Buick Dealer (1969-1999) for all those years. I agree with the others about buying an American car or truck etc, hell will freeze over before I purchase an import!!! JS 1965 GS Coupe Sil-Blk AT, ac (numbers docs) 1969 GS Cvt Verde Green-Wht 4 spd, ac (numbers) 1969 Stage 1 Cvt Triple Blk 4 spd (numbers docs) 1970 GSX Stage 1 QQ AT, AC (numbers docs) 1970 Stage 1 Aqua Mist-Wht AT-AC (numbers docs) 1971 GSX Cotez Gold 350 AT (numbers w/docs) 1971 Stage 1 Cortez Gold bench 4 spd (numbers)
I worked in a GM BOP plant from 1972 to 1974. I am still amazed at the lack of a quality perspective from the UAW. They truly did not care about making better cars. And GM cars were designed by accountants looking to squeeze every penny out of the cars. Add in competition that had better quality, and you have the recipe for a decline in market share.
Just this week I picked up Bob Lutz's book "Car Guys vs. Bean Counters: The Battle for the Soul of American Business" that addresses this very thing. I'm sure it'll be an enlightening read. This battle is waged in every manufacturing sector for sure. :spank:
I was fortunate enough to have a tour of the Buick City plant when an early annual ROA/BCA meet was held in Flint quite a while back. It was my first time seeing how all those bits 'n pieces came together to end up in a completed automobile, and was most impressive. I still have a copy of the Buick City newsletter printed with a special welcome to the ROA members. All the Rivieras were parked in front of the admin. building for all to enjoy. While it's sad to see Buick 'history' vanish, the memories last forever !! Like a friend of mine used to say - " If things don't soon change around here, there gonna hafta stay the same !", and we all know that just doesn't happen, for whatever reasons. o No: Thanks for those pics and the memories Flint 67 GS !! :TU:
i seen people walk away from working in a buick plant because they could not deal with the work there even with the good wages etc. it was too hard for them . they left and went to work somewhere else for less money . i worked at buick 26 years . 36 years gm .
Was at Buick City today and as requested picked up some bricks.I have them listed in the parts for sale section.Here are some pictures I took today-Picked up some signs GM and Old News Boys Sign from plant #5-I grew up in downtown Flint -with 8 kids in our family and things were tough back then.Old news boys (plant workers) would collect money for poor familys for Chistmas.Days before Christmas when I was a round 10 we had a knock on the door -It was a large group of people(old news boys people) and they began bringing boxes inside.Each box was for a girl or a boy -different ages-the boxes had cool toys ,socks,pants,shirts,underwear ect.... Also they gave us a large turkey and lots of food :TU: .When they were done bringing all this stuff in they went back outside and sang Christmas carols for us on the sidewalk.I WILL NEVER FORGET THAT DAY p Here are some :kodak: picture #2 is East side of plat #5 #3 is of water treatment plant. picture #4 and 5 are whats left of plant #10 looking Northeast
great thread....I would be interested in a brick....the pictures remind me of the GM Plant in Linden NJ that closed a few years ago... Linden Assembly was a General Motors automobile factory in Linden, New Jersey. The 2,600,000 square foot factory opened in 1937 to build Buick, Pontiac and Oldsmobile vehicles. During World War II, the plant was also used to produce fighter planes for the United States military, primarily the FM Wildcat, an improved version of the F4F Wildcat. In 1991 the facility was retooled for truck & SUV assembly. A white 2005 Chevrolet Blazer was the last vehicle to leave the line in April 2005. The plant employed over 3000 people in 2003 when they made announcement to go from 2 shift to 1 cutting 1500 jobs just like that.
Im from Detroit My Dad and all of my Uncles and Great Uncles came from West Virginia and Tenn in the 40s and 50s to work in the auto industries.... My Dad worked at the Ford Rouge Plant from about 1956-57 (was 18-19years old and did not know anything but farming) till the gas crisis of early 70s got him laid off....he got depressed and turn to the bottle(another story in itself). The Ford Wixom facility is empty..... The Caddillac Plant that was on Fort St is gone....you could see it from I 75 when you came over the Rouge River. The other at Clark and Michigan is a empty field now... Hers some of the problem...the AFL-CIO labor coalition Executive paywatch project estimates chief executives went from making 42 times the average blue collar workers salary in 1980 to 343 times as much in 2010....how the heck does this workou: . They are opening auto plants here in the south, all foriegn, they come here and go to these counties and get all kinds of tax breaks. Alot of the places are where they' re not many jobs and people get excited over $10-12hour jobs and no unions........ I could go on but..... Good job on saving some memorabilia from there Mike.
I gotta get over there and get me a brick from #5, -#10, and Plant 3. I worked in all of them really but I started out in #5. PONCH
Well, so much for bringing my Electra "home". Flint is about an hour and thirty minutes from my family's summer home near Kalamazoo, Mi. I was planing to drive it to our cottage, then take a ride up to Flint after I finished restoring it this upcoming summer. So much for that. ou:
