John Auchter: A Cartoon, a desk, and the End of an Era

(Originally published in the Ann Arbor News, Bay City Times, Flint Journal, Grand Rapids Press, Jackson Citizen Patriot, Kalamazoo Gazette, Muskegon Chronicle, Saginaw News
November 10, 2013)

Cartoonist extraordinaire from the Flint area John Auchter weighs in on the demise of Delphi East. Here's some background on the cartoon from John's blog, Auchtoon!:

Growing up in Flint, there were many, many GM facilities scattered in and around town. But the four main complexes were Buick, Chevy in the Hole, Truck and Bus, and AC Spark Plug. Truck and Bus is the only one now still functioning (and actually doing quite well turning out Silverados). Most of what was AC Spark Plug has been gone for quite some time, but the last piece (which final name was Delphi Flint East) is no more. I thought it appropriate to draw a cartoon to mark the occasion. But I didn’t want to do the typical reminiscing of the good ol’ days or the lamenting of the loss thereof. No, the main reaction I had was to the folks not from Flint (or Detroit or Saginaw) who confidently chime in to tell us who was solely to blame: “It was the unions!” “It was General Motors!” “It was the lazy workers!” “It was the incompetent management.”

Yeah, sure. All that and more. But if you’re not from Flint, you have no real appreciation for the subtleties and complexities of how things turned out the way they have. And it’s more than a little annoying to have somebody tell you with great confidence how AC Spark Plug would be a humming beehive of activity if only they had been in charge. I don’t think so. There are historical reasons for why things turned out the way they did. There were some very bad decisions, but there were also some great successes, and we would be wise to learn from both.

So the two folks choking each other to death is more of a cautionary tale for those who have never been to Flint but think they know exactly what happened there. I purposely didn’t draw them as a blue collar guy with a lunch bucket and hard hat, and a rich guys with a top hat and monocle. That’s the past. Future problems are more likely to be caused by folks who appear relatively the same but are still playing the blame game.

Regardless of their content, all of John's cartoons have a Flint connection:

"The drawing table I use (and have used for nearly 30 years) was originally a drafting table from AC Spark Plug," John wrote in an email. "Joe Peltier was/is a friend of mine from Holy Redeemer and Powers days. His father (Hamilton) was an engineer at AC. When they purged the old wooden drafting tables in favor of the modern steel ones, Ham took one home and put it in his basement. I saw it at some point (and coveted it), and my father eventually made a deal with Ham to get it for me as a college graduation gift. (I think a bottle or two of booze was the barter.) It's pretty sweet."

Yes, Flint Still Has Automotive Jobs that Can Move to Mexico

This is an unwelcome blast from the past...Flint losing automotive industry jobs to Mexico.

Shaun Byron of The Flint Journal reports:

It was announced Tuesday, Feb. 5, that Flint East, which has undergone multiple name and ownership changes in its history, will close November 2013.

Local UAW officials say they were told the work is being taken to Mexico following the end of an agreement that was already extended beyond its deadline.

Gerry Godin Remembers Buick City

Gerry Godin and the Death of Buick City from Dude! (ironic) Productions on Vimeo.

Gerry Godin, who publishes the All Things Buick Blog, reflects on the now-demolished Buick City factory complex.

Detropia: The Past, Present, and Future of Detroit

If you haven't had a chance to see Detropia, you should check it out. I reviewed the documentary for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette newspaper:

The filmmakers capture the haunting beauty of Detroit as it transitions from an industrial powerhouse to a demimonde where the rural and the urban intermingle. A pheasant crosses a snowy city street at night, illuminated by flickering streetlights. A rusting jungle gym is surrounded by a sea of grass gently swaying in a summer breeze. You can feel the silence that engulfs the once-bustling corners of the city. There’s an otherworldly quality to the film.

Read the entire review here.

Flint Photos: Chevy in the Hole

Photo courtesy of Tom Pohrt.

Industrial Gothic

I got a package in the mail today from artist and author Tom Pohrt that included a collection of Kodachrome Stereo Transparencies labeled "Spring '60 Flood." I scanned a few to get a better look and discovered these eerie, hauntingly beautiful images of Flint when water ruled the Vehicle City.

Flint Photos: Buick Service and Parts Building in the Fifties

The Buick Service and Parts Building, which later became Buick Engineering, on Hamilton Avenue in Flint in the 1950s. (Photo by Mary Fisher)

Flint Postcards: New Chevys

Remembering the Flint Sit-Down Strike

Flint Artifacts: Dupont Lighter

France, Meet Flint

France is struggling to help the troubled automaker Peugeot in an era of economic decline and austerity measures. It's not easy, but if Flint and Detroit are examples of what happens when auto jobs are allowed to disappear, I think it's worth the effort.

Steven Erlanger of The New York Times reports:

[French President Francois Hollande] even created a whole Ministry for Industrial Recovery, led by Arnaud Montebourg, to stop factories from closing. But now Europe is in recession, and Peugeot, hemorrhaging money, has announced plans to cut spending by $1.85 billion by 2015, lay off 8,000 workers and shut a major factory at Aulnay-sous-Bois, near Paris. And Mr. Hollande is learning how hard it is to be a French Socialist in a European Union that demands budget cuts and debt limits, endorses free trade and has rules against favoring national manufacturers. 

After the layoffs were announced, Mr. Hollande retorted that the plan “is not acceptable, and therefore it will not be accepted.” Mr. Montebourg, a foe of globalization and a fierce talker, accused the company of “lies” and “dissimulation,” and called the news “a shock for the nation.” 

Yet it is not clear what the government can actually do. PSA Peugeot Citroën is a private company facing global competition in a cutthroat business with its main market in a recession, and France is an expensive place to make anything, let alone the low-cost cars that make up a large part of its business. Part of the company’s problem, in fact, is that it has tried to keep jobs in France.

Flint Artifacts: Chevrolet Flint Engine Safety Pin

Sales Forecast

Think there's not pent-up demand for cars? In 2011, the average car on the road was 11 years old, an all-time high.

Flint Photos: Charles Pohrt and the Buick in the 1920s

Author, illustrator, and Flint Expatriate Tom Pohrt sent me these photos of his grandfather, Charles Pohrt, taken at the Buick, probably sometime in the 1920s. Charles was a tool and die maker.

The drop forge die sinking room at the Buick.

Charles, smoking a pipe, with two co-workers.

Flint Artifacts: Dort Motor Car Company

Flint Photos: Creating a 1953 Chevrolet Corvette C1 in 1953

Flint Photos: Buick Specials Roll Down the Line in 1949

Bonus Time at G.M.

Nick Bunkley of The New York Times reports on record-setting bonuses at G.M.

General Motors said on Monday that it would pay the largest profit-sharing checks in its history to 45,000 hourly workers in the United States.

The checks will be worth “upwards of $4,000,” a G.M. spokeswoman, Sherrie Childers-Arb, said. That is more than double the company’s previous record of $1,775, paid in 2000.

About 3,000 G.M. workers at four plants in New York, Michigan and Indiana that were formerly part of the Delphi Corporation will receive about $3,000 each.

The Chrysler Super Bowl Ad: When the Commercial Becomes the Political

Hank Steuver of The Washington Post is not that impressed by the Chrysler Super Bowl commerical:

I puzzled over Chrysler's daring yet laughably pretentious ad about a Detroit rebirth, in which Eminem drives meaningfully though the Motor City. Tagline: "Imported from Detroit." It was a bold statement, delivered unconvincingly.

And like seemingly everything else in America, the ad has taken on political implications. Stephanie Condon of Political Hotsheet writes:

One Republican congressman, encapsulating the negative response of many conservatives, pointedly put the ad in the context of the taxpayer bailout Chrysler received.

"'Imported from Detroit'...'borrowed from China,'" Rep. Dennis Ross (R-Fla.) tweeted last night.

Detroit's own Democratic congressman, meanwhile, and other liberals praised the ad as a fine representation of the hope that lives on in the downtrodden city.

"I can't think of a more fitting way to depict Detroit's story than to have fellow Detroit native, Eminem, announce that the city is back and to remind Americans that the revitalized Southeast Michigan auto industry is brimming with new investment and optimism," Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) told the Hotsheet. "This year marks a serious upturn for the city of Detroit."

Shop Rats Unite

Had one of those awkward California conversational moments today when I used the term "shop rat" with someone unschooled in the nuances of Flintoid lingo. I then spent ten minutes unsuccessfully trying to illustrate the various uses of the term. I felt like a Brit trying to explain "bollocks" to an American.

But it got me wondering...is shop rat a Flint-only term? A Michigan term? An auto industry term? And where did it come from? When did it start being used?