Monday, May 11, 2009

Flint Postcards: Chevrolet Flint Assembly Division


UPDATE: Gerry Godin writes:

That's where my 66 Chevy was built. This is one of the rare buildings still standing (on Van Slyke Rd.) in Flint. The first Corvette (1953) was assembled here. The last Chevy passenger car built in flint at this location was June 24, 1970. It was a Monte Carlo. In the early eighties Buick built the full size Impala & Caprice for one year, along side the Buicks. Here's the link to my Chevy www.myspace.com/gerrygodin.


7 comments:

  1. That's where my 66 Chevy was built. This is one of the rare buildings still standing (on Van Slyke rd) in Flint. Also the first Corvette (1953) was assembled here. The last Chevy passenger car built in flint (at this location) was June 24th 1970. It was a Monte Carlo. In the early eighties Buick built the full size Impala & Caprice for one year,along side the Buick's. Here's the link to my Chevy www.myspace.com/gerrygodin .

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  2. ...wasn't the first Corvette assembled at Chevy in the Hole? The building is still standing, as Kettering now owns it (the C.S. Mott Engineering and Science Center). There's even a plaque inside commemorating the building's significance.

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  3. J.L., I've heard it both ways, but I suspect it came from the Van Slyke plant (the one in the postcard, which is of course now the Truck Plant). I remember there was a 50th anniversary Corvette rally, written up in Popular Mechanics or one of the car mags, and they showed a '53 Vette parked on the roof of the plant for the start of the rally (this was in 2003). I'm pretty sure it was Van Slyke.

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  4. Maybe the first PRODUCTION Corvette was built at Van Slyke, and some prototypes came from the Hole. I'm guessing that's the deal.

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  5. They stopped assembly in the hole at Fisher #2 assembly & 2A the body plant in 1947. They then started production at the new Van Slyke assembly plant, which then became Fisher #2 on the northend with assembly on the southend. It was a combined plant just as Buick City in the future would be. Both plants in the hole were torn down in I believe 2002. I have films but if I'm wrong I'll get back to you. It's possible that the building you speak of was a small addition adjacent to the north of the original #2 in the hole, such as the Cultural and diversity center at Buick. Which was a small piece of the second factory #03 at that location. As far as Corvette production, it is well documented that that took place in a separate area of the Van Slyke location. There is a lot of wrong information out there,so be careful and check all the sources you can. Here is the link to my Buick site with some Chevy information that may help you also. http://buickcity.blogspot.com/ thanks for chatting J.L., Gerry Godin

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  6. One more thing I had for you . Did you see the 50th anniversary of the Corvette on TV in 2003? They billed it as the Corvettes homecoming to Flint,and they all met outside at the Van Slyke location and then they drove in through the building and back out through the original door that the 53 model used when they exited the building. later J.L., Gerry Godin

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  7. The first Corvette was built at the V 8 plant next door. The V 8 plant was built but the machinery wasn't installed. They had a fire at the Corvette plant and they installed the Corvette machinery in the V 8 plant temporarily.

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Thanks for commenting. I moderate comments, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. You might enjoy my book about Flint called "Teardown: Memoir of a Vanishing City," a Michigan Notable Book for 2014 and a finalist for the 33rd Annual Northern California Book Award for Creative NonFiction. Filmmaker Michael Moore described Teardown as "a brilliant chronicle of the Mad Maxization of a once-great American city." More information about Teardown is available at www.teardownbook.com.