1975 Catalytic Converter

When General Motors first started installing these on the new 1975 Buick's we were not prepared for the smell in the factory. They claimed in this advertisement that it was a breath of fresh air. "Actually they smelled horrible". I was working on the chassis line in factory #04 at the time, adjacent to the final line. My partner and I thought that the foul smell was coming from another employee working next to us. Management left it up to the union rep to talk with this person, and he had a personal hygiene talk with him. After the poor guy went home to shower we still had the smell. It was finally tracked down to the (fresh air) converter. We felt pretty bad about this and apologized to our fellow worker but I'm not sure he ever accepted our stupid blunder

.

Buick Testing.

A 1968 Electra gets a drop test.

A 1967 Buick Special being put to the test.

Buick Body By Fisher

A load of Buick body's leaving Fisher Body #1 on south Saginaw street for it's roughly 4 mile trip to the assembly plant on Hamilton Avenue. There was a steady stream of these trucks through downtown Flint until the I-475 freeway was built.

Factory #12 Sheet Metal Stamping

It may be hard to believe, but I remember most of these machines. When you are around them day after day "you don't forget". These photos date to 1947 and they were still stamping out parts for Buick City when it closed. I figure they are still working in some other facility "probably Mexico or China".

All these photo's were taken from the overhead crane. The operator in this photo is facing east.

Body Receiving 1947.

This view facing north from the main office in 1947 shows body receiving at factory #01. Building #16 has just been built and would become the new factory #40. The old transmission plant #40 is on the right. The area where the construction sheds for building #16 are located would be the future site of the Chemical and paint "Tank Farm" which would be built in the early 1980's. Looks like a mix of every model Buick made for 1948 except a convertible and Wagon. I see a Super Sedanette entering factory #01, a 4 door Sedan going up ramp and a couple of Special Series cars on the top and lower level of the Fisher Body delivery truck. The ones on the truck are both Sedanette models. Buick had three series that year: Special (2 models), Super (4 models) and Roadmaster also with (4 models).  News story on Buick lineup.

Follow the first link for the 1960 photo of the new body receiving that replaced this one.Follow the third link for a 1924 view of body receiving. also follow the second link for another view of the 1947 body receiving dock

Body Receiving 1960

Body Receiving in factory #01

Factory #01 closed body receiving 1924. Complete 1947 Buick Magazine.

Buick Factories.

This shows the designation of the buildings that would become Buick City. North would be at the left in this 1984 view.

Buick City Trim

This is one of the places I worked in 1987 during a cutback when we lost second shift. I was installing the drivers side door panel. This is zone 32. You are on the second floor of old factory #04 at the north-end east wall, just north of bridge #40. The woman in the photo is identified as Linda Barnhart

.

Buick Assembly 1947

Here is a good view of the roof structure between the two factory's #10 visible on the left and #19/#07 out of sight on the right. When you enlarge this photo you can see the front end sub assembly's crossing the mezzanine from the third floor of old factory #10 heading for the south end of old factory #07/#19 where they will be mated to the appropriate body.

This is the body drop inside the old factory #19/#07 factory built in 1908. Notice the wooden pillar. This area was near the east wall.

This is the south end of factory #62. This was the roofed over area between factory's #19 which was actually old #07, although most old timers just called this collection of original wood and brick factory's #06. Factory #10 is visible on the right. This created the new Unified Assembly Plant in Flint. This roofed over expansion was done in 1925 to meet the rising demand of Buick's.

 For more on this location at Buick follow this link or simply type in #62 in the search box at the top left corner of this blog.

Factory #62 Emmanuel Godin

1963 Riviera

The 11 millionth Buick built would be this "NEW" for 1963 Riviera.

  The photo 'link' below showing the Buick factories, includes what would be the Riviera assembly plant in Flint. It is the tall building on the right. This appears to be the body receiving area in Buick's factory #04 mezzanine.                                                                       

 To read more about this factory follow this link:

Factory #40 Description + Display    Riviera prototypes   Riviera blog

Random Buick Photos.

Buick car haulers and their starting point.