Video: Clark Street Assembly Plant's Last Days of Operation.

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

Just came across this video treasure of the final days of operation at Cadillac's famous Clark Street Assembly Plant.

Date stamp of 11-25-87 appears roughly at 1:10:00 through the video placing the footage exactly four weeks before the plant was closed on December 23, 1987. 1988 Broughams were being produced at this time while FWD models were produced at the newer Hamtramck plant which began operations in 1985. I wonder if history ever recorded where the final Brougham to leave Clark Street went or its present whereabouts. 

Roughly 1:20:00 begins local news coverage of the closure of what was rightly considered one of GM's most historic plants whose operations began 66 years earlier in 1921- news that also received national coverage at the time. Of particular interest are interviews of the workers, some of whom had begun working at Clark as far back the early 1950s. A number of them mention being direct descendants of family members who had been employed within these walls generations before.

The video also gives appreciation for the constant din and monotony that the workers bore daily. One could only imagine how working in the summer months would have added to the tedium & drudgery.

With that, here's a salute to the single plant at which the vast majority of CLC-owned vehicles were born. Enjoy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mjf-FNvrXqw

[J. Skelly]

Thanks for posting this, Eric.  The body drop is in the Detroit Historical Museum with an actual body on it.  Clark Street and Fleetwood were supposed to close when the new plant opened, but the RWD cars were still selling well, and they remained open for a few years.  Some of the lower-seniority workers ended up at the Detroit Diesel Worldwide Parts Distribution Center in Romulus, where I worked until its closure.  My understanding was that seniority rights did not transfer over to the new plant, so some of the workers remained until the bitter end. 

A sheet metal plant on Detroit's east side is supposed to be razed this month:   

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/2020/12/08/plan-demolish-cadillac-stamping-plant-and-rebuild-moves-forward-tax-credits/6488821002/

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

My understanding was that seniority rights did not transfer over to the new plant, so some of the workers remained until the bitter end. 

That exactly corresponds with what was said in the news coverage.

Back in the day, I remember every year after 1983 was rumored to be the last for the large RWD body Cadillac which finally happened- sort of- for a time in 1985, only to resume in February 1986 (albeit in four door form only). Ultimately they kept a RWD model in the line for another decade. Everyone knew GM was really chomping at the bit to go all FWD. At least this was one thing they did right during a period when much of what it had been doing was arguably wrong,

[Dr. John T. Welch]

Great footage of industrial  manufacturing processes now passed into history. Hard to believe that this feature is showing a way of life common to the mass production of automobiles  that are  now 34 years old. Although our focus today is necessarily on our  individual treasured collector vehicles, it's hard to imagine that at one point in their lives they were like pieces of popcorn tumbling out of a popper.

To someone who  has never been in an automotive assembly plant of that era, the real live experience was  beyond description.  Working there, as I did briefly during summers of college years, was the experience of a lifetime.
In many ways, this video is also a tribute to Cross and Trecker Co. ,the historic manufacturer and supplier of  the immense and complex conveyor and transfer  systems used throughout these plants.  Notice in the video that EVERYTHING is moving, ALL THE TIME. The conveyor systems accomplish this and are a marvel unto themselves but completely invisible to anyone outside the manufacturing process.  The assembly process itself is a total and complete science also  invisible in the finished product but  completely responsible for it.  Here you see the results of legions of invisible manufacturing engineers who pre -thought every inch of conveyor travel and every ounce of worker effort.   This is where the profit comes from and for almost 100 years no one did it better than GM.

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

Thanks for your comments & observations John. What years did you work there and what did you do?

[J. Skelly]

My paternal grandfather had previously worked at the Ford Rouge plant and then went to Cadillac.  While working in the engine department at Cadillac, he was told about a new diesel engine plant GM was going to open in Redford Township (next to Detroit), and asked if he was interested in working there.  He accepted a job at Detroit Diesel, which started manufacturing in January 1938.  He ended up retiring from there. 

[k8096]

If you attended the Grand National held in Detroit in 1984 (I think that was the year), you may have signed up for the tour of the Clark Street Plant.  The Saturday show was held at Greenfield Village.   

[Glen]

To someone who  has never been in an automotive assembly plant of that era, the real live experience was  beyond description.  Working there, as I did briefly during summers of college years, was the experience of a lifetime.
In many ways, this video is also a tribute to Cross and Trecker Co. ,the historic manufacturer and supplier of  the immense and complex conveyor and transfer  systems used throughout these plants.  Notice in the video that EVERYTHING is moving, ALL THE TIME. The conveyor systems accomplish this and are a marvel unto themselves but completely invisible to anyone outside the manufacturing process.  The assembly process itself is a total and complete science also  invisible in the finished product but  completely responsible for it.  Here you see the results of legions of invisible manufacturing engineers who pre -thought every inch of conveyor travel and every ounce of worker effort.   This is where the profit comes from and for almost 100 years no one did it better than GM.

I don't remember what year it was but the CLC had a GN in Texas, and one tour was the Arlington Plant .  We saw what Dr. Welch is talking about.  The body drop is moving all the time and the workers are moving with it.  The bottom of the pit they are in moved with the ar as they bolt the body to the frame. 

I was most impressed by the lady assembling the dash boards.  The dashboards came across her station as she put parts on one side, then the other side as it moved away.  Parts were delivered to her as each dashboard arrived at her station. 
The makes and models were mixed so all the correct components have to arriver at each station in the right sequence. Amazing coordination.   

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

I have been through many vehicle assembly plants, from foundries, machining stations and stamping, and panel assembly, both here in Australia, and USA, and that Clark Avenue video was the loudest I have witnesses.   Maybe it was the microphone of the video camera that picked up every noise, and magnified it.

Bruce.

[TonyZappone #2624]

Sometime in the mid 80's, I was at a Chevrolet trip somewhere that we had won.  I was talking with another dealer in the hotel pool, who was also a pretty good size Cadillac single city dealer (as many dealers were).  He related that he had done such a good job with Cadillac, that they had invited him to the new Hamtramck plant ahead of normal production, to see the new car.  When he saw the new little car, he went home and immediately sold the Cadillac store.  He reveled in the memory that he did that before others new what the new car looked like.

[Ralph Messina CLC 4937]

Eric,

Great video. Thanks for posting it, but It screwed up my morning because I  couldn’t stop watching….

[Harley Earl]

Eric, thank you for posting.  I used to watch GM (and other automobile manufacturing) videos with my Dad on Saturday afternoons.  These videos were routinely broadcast on our local PBS station in the late 70s through the 1980s.  This was done to relax after going to work with him on Saturday mornings (As a kid, my Dad worked M-F for endless hours and additionally on Saturdays... I looked forward to spending 1:1 time with him at work since there was little time spent with him during the workweek).  Great memories and still surprisingly relaxing to this day!

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

Especially intriguing are the two consecutive blue cars without vinyl roofs!

The first one has wire wheels, the second one doesn't.

https://youtu.be/Mjf-FNvrXqw?t=3100

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

Sometime in the mid 80's, I was at a Chevrolet trip somewhere that we had won.  I was talking with another dealer in the hotel pool, who was also a pretty good size Cadillac single city dealer (as many dealers were).  He related that he had done such a good job with Cadillac, that they had invited him to the new Hamtramck plant ahead of normal production, to see the new car.  When he saw the new little car, he went home and immediately sold the Cadillac store.  He reveled in the memory that he did that before others new what the new car looked like.

Sounds like he was one of the lucky ones, and avoided the sadness of downsizing.

Bruce.

[Clewisiii]

I don't remember what year it was but the CLC had a GN in Texas, and one tour was the Arlington Plant .  We saw what Dr. Welch is talking about.  The body drop is moving all the time and the workers are moving with it.  The bottom of the pit they are in moved with the ar as they bolt the body to the frame. 

I was most impressed by the lady assembling the dash boards.  The dashboards came across her station as she put parts on one side, then the other side as it moved away.  Parts were delivered to her as each dashboard arrived at her station. 
The makes and models were mixed so all the correct components have to arriver at each station in the right sequence. Amazing coordination.

So the plants now don't even plan that sequencing fully themselves.  Most interior components are sent to an integrator first who sequence the packages to go to the line. 

[jaxops]

I really enjoyed this.  Fascinating how they drove into car-baskets" and got whisked away to the next floor.

[TJ Hopland]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enxYd_MdGLM

Maybe this has been around before but its the first time I have seen it.  Pretty neat so see a lot of the process done in an amateur way.   I'm thinking other similar films / videos tend to be more heavily edited and produced which is quite a different experience.  The live sound including the one interaction 'why would you want to record this' was fun too.

I assume by 87 Clark street was the only factory making the Brougham?  And that was all they made there by that time?  And the square body was all they made there till it closed?

Anyone know were the bodies assembled there too or did those come in presumably by rail the way we saw them in the video mostly assembled?  If not there were were they assembled?

One question I kept asking myself was how often did someone somewhere really want to make a design change but it just wasn't practical because of the changes required in the factory.  Making the roof 1" taller changes a lot of fixtures and maybe won't fit up the ramp.  An inch longer won't fit on that long track and leave room for workers.  An inch here won't fit here anymore.  I guess that was one reason that plant closed,  just could not adapt it any more.     

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

I posted this a while back. There's a date stamp of 11-25-87 in the video which means the cars rolling off the assembly line would have been 1988s.

It was a sad day when that plant closed.

https://forums.cadillaclasalle.club/index.php?topic=163674.msg488417#msg488417

[TJ Hopland]

I did remember something about Clark street not that long ago but could not find it or remember the details.  I check the thread and at least I didn't comment in that thread so maybe I didn't see it.   Interesting that that was near the end.

If a mod Bruce? wants to delete this or and or merge my comment onto that other thread that's fine with me, we don't need 2 threads of the same thing cluttering things up.

[TJ Hopland]

So how many of those assemblies came from there vs other places?   Bodies?  Engines?

Did GM have any or many plants that dang near built the whole car?  Ford had some that came close didn't they?