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Fleetwood Plant Plant 18

Started by billyoung, January 27, 2023, 06:22:59 AM

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billyoung

I have always been in amazement that the Fleetwood Plant could turn out a couple thousand fully painted and trimmed Cadillac bodies a day in the 1960's to ship by truck to Clark Plant final assembly. I have always wondered if there were separate sections or floors set aside for producing different models and staff that were trained to assemble just Calais or DeVille or Fleetwood bodies ?. I don't imagine that anyone that were there are still alive today to  tell about it however I would Love to know.
Age 68, Living in Gods waiting room ( Florida ) Owned over 40 Old Cadillac's from 1955's to 1990 Brougham's. Currently own a 1968 Cadillac DeVille Convertible and a 1992 Cadillac 5.7 Brougham.

J. Skelly

Clark Street Assembly closed in December of 1987, so there would be plenty of workers still alive.  It was supposed to close when the front-wheel-drive models started production at the new Hamtramck assembly plant.  There was still strong demand for the rear-wheel-drive models, so it closed a few years after Hamtramck opened.
Jim Skelly, CLC #15958
1968 Eldorado
1977 Eldorado Biarritz
1971 Eldorado (RIP)

The Tassie Devil(le)

I too have always been amazed at the amount of vehicles manufactured by these plants in any calendar year.

When looking at the production numbers, then with some simple mathematical calculations, like working days, models, plants, etc, it doesn't allow for much time for the cars to come off the assembly line, ready to sell.   Then when one sees the holding yards to carry the completed stock before shipping, the logistics are mind-boggling.

One forgets about all the holding of parts prior to building as well.

Bruce. >:D 
'72 Eldorado Convertible (LHD)
'70 Ranchero Squire (RHD)
'74 Chris Craft Gull Wing (SH)
'02 VX Series II Holden Commodore SS Sedan
(Past President Modified Chapter)

Past Cars of significance - to me
1935 Ford 3 Window Coupe
1936 Ford 5 Window Coupe
1937 Chevrolet Sports Coupe
1955 Chevrolet Convertible
1959 Ford Fairlane Ranch Wagon
1960 Cadillac CDV
1972 Cadillac Eldorado Coupe

64\/54Cadillacking

I feel the same. It's amazing too not just the speed of which so many thousands upon thousands of Cadillacs were pumped out by mostly manual labor way before robotic machines at the plants, but with such high build quality, accuracy and craftsmanship as well.
Currently Rides:
1964 Sedan Deville
1954 Cadillac Fleetwood 60 Special
1979 Lincoln Mark V Cartier Designer Series
2007 Lexus LS 460L (extended wheelbase edition)

Previous Rides:
1987 Brougham D' Elegance
1994 Fleetwood Bro
1972 Sedan Deville
1968 Coupe Deville
1961 Lincoln Continental
1993 Lincoln Town Car Signature Series
1978 Lincoln Continental ( R.I.P.) 1978-2024 😞

J. Skelly

Computer programming allowed faster and better tracking of supplier components, in-house parts inventory, assembly sequence, purchasing, and many other behind the scenes functions.  When you think about the pre-computer days, it really took a lot of workers and coordination to make it all work.
Jim Skelly, CLC #15958
1968 Eldorado
1977 Eldorado Biarritz
1971 Eldorado (RIP)

jwwseville60

When did Fleetwood stop making car bodies?
1960 Eldorado Seville, Copper, "IKE"
1961 CDV, gold, "Goldfinger"
1964 Eldorado, Turquoise, "Billy the Squid"
1963 De Ville Station Wagon Vista roof, silver blue, "Race Bannon"
1963 Fleetwood 60S, turquoise, "The Miami Special"
1959 Sedan Deville flat top, tan, "Jupiter-2"
1947 Caddy Sedanette 62, black, "Johnny Cash"
1970 ASC Fleetwood wagon, dark blue, "Iron Maiden"
Lifetime CLC

Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621

Quote from: billyoung on January 27, 2023, 06:22:59 AMI have always been in amazement that the Fleetwood Plant could turn out a couple thousand fully painted and trimmed Cadillac bodies a day in the 1960's to ship by truck to Clark Plant final assembly. I have always wondered if there were separate sections or floors set aside for producing different models and staff that were trained to assemble just Calais or DeVille or Fleetwood bodies ?. I don't imagine that anyone that were there are still alive today to  tell about it however I would Love to know.

Bill...I posted this video a while back in case you haven't seen it before. It was filmed late November 1987, slightly over a month before production at the Clark Street plant came to an end.  I don't know whether it'll answer your questions but hopefully you'll find it helpful as well as entertaining.

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



A Cadillac Motorcar is a Possession for which there is no Acceptable Substitute

The Tassie Devil(le)

Thanks for posting that video.   I have saved it for watching later, but one part of it really opened my eyes, and that was the chassis assembly of the running gear.   All those chassis aligned, side by side, getting diffs and front ends.   I would have thought they would have been done in a running assembly line, not a static adjascent line.

Bruce. >:D
'72 Eldorado Convertible (LHD)
'70 Ranchero Squire (RHD)
'74 Chris Craft Gull Wing (SH)
'02 VX Series II Holden Commodore SS Sedan
(Past President Modified Chapter)

Past Cars of significance - to me
1935 Ford 3 Window Coupe
1936 Ford 5 Window Coupe
1937 Chevrolet Sports Coupe
1955 Chevrolet Convertible
1959 Ford Fairlane Ranch Wagon
1960 Cadillac CDV
1972 Cadillac Eldorado Coupe

J. Skelly

Quote from: jwwseville60 on January 31, 2023, 04:50:07 PMWhen did Fleetwood stop making car bodies?
As I recall, Fleetwood closed in December 1987, too.  It was also torn down.
Jim Skelly, CLC #15958
1968 Eldorado
1977 Eldorado Biarritz
1971 Eldorado (RIP)

Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621

I have a brick and a section of maple flooring salvaged from the Clark Street plant during demolition. I believe it was closed December 31st 1987. The last cars seen rolling off the line were 1988 Broughams as shown in the video. Prior to the Linden Plant which began producing Eldorado & DeVille models in 1972, nearly every Cadillac made from 1921 to 1971 was born within the walls of Clark Street. 
A Cadillac Motorcar is a Possession for which there is no Acceptable Substitute