Buick Billboard

This is the later incarnation of the Buick billboard at the south Flint site. Sorry that Michael Moore stuck his nose in.  News story link here.

Buick Billboard

The billboard during Buick City's time.












This would be the northbound billboard at the I-75 and 23 interchange south of Bristol road exit.










This shows what the Buick Town billboard located on southbound I-75 near Flint would have looked like in the past. As I recall BUICK was in red neon and the Weather ball at the top of the Citizens bank building would blink on and off. I seem to recall that one of the windows in a building would turn on and off also.

 link here for the original post

Buick Town

1970.

Industrial and Leith Over 100 Years

1909 during construction of factory #16. Below is the same spot exactly 100 years later.

July 26,2009. The abandoned factory #31. Photo supplied by Kevin Burger.

Ghost Of The Past

Original photo of south Division st. at Hamilton Avenue supplied by Kevin Burger. Photo taken July 26, 2009.

Factory #66

Here is a photo showing Dominic and Venus Zsigo. They are standing at the corner of Carton st. and Industrial ave. Factory #31/66 is in the background. I found this at Washington Post.com and this is what it said: Dominic Zsigo and his wife Venus, pose for a portrait in front of the Buick plant in Flint, Mich., where he works. They are on a week long total layoff, however he worries about being laid off permanently. His wife recently lost her job at a Ford plant.

These photo's show the oldest surviving piece of the original Oak Park factory #01. Factory #01 was built in 1906. These trusses were a later addition to factory #01, added around 1909. They were then removed during an expansion in 1926 and reused here in a cost saving measure. This would be the new crankshaft factory at Buick. In the photo at top, the yellow arrow shows the factory #01 trusses have not yet been erected. The green arrow shows the factory #12 trusses already in place. Factory #12 had it's roof raised in 1925. The mid '20s was a time of great change at the Buick factories. This factory eventually became the north end of factory #31 after World War II. Factory #31 or building 66A was built in 1940. These photos are both looking east from the corner of Industrial avenue and Gillespie street. This photo was supplied by Kevin Burger. He took the picture July 26, 2009.

 link here for more

Factory #01 Roof Trusses

Edward C. Kennard

Ed Kennard was the Buick sales manager starting in 1957. He later became the assistant general sales manager in charge of the eastern United States. He then went on to become the general manager of Cadillac.

This token was given out at a dealers meeting in Minneapolis in 1958. It was to be a symbol of hope for the future. Buick had been having very bad quality problems since 1955 concerning brakes, axles and water pumps, just to name a few. The quote is from Matthew 17:20, "And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you."  

The author of this article went on to write the book "The Good Old Days At The Buick".

Hamilton Avenue and the Dupont plant.

                                                                                                                                                                    Link: Dupont Magazine 1921.

View of Flint, Michigan plant
Corporate creator	E.I. du Pont Nemours & Company

This 3000 gallon mixer at DuPont's Flint, Michigan plant is one of the tools that makes it possible to turn out high quality, low cost finishes on a mass production basis.

From the same direction as shown below. This 3 story addition was built starting in February 1909.







A 1916 view from the opposite side. The view below is during construction in 1911.









This is the E. I. Dupont de Nemours Company, or just Dupont if you prefer. This plant was located on the site of the original Flint Varnish Work's. This view facing southeast was taken from the south entrance to Division street off of Hamilton Avenue. They supplied all the paint products for Buick.

1975 Buick Pace Car

An original prototype sketch.

Indianapolis.

At the end of the final/slat line in factory #40 at Buick in Flint. This view is facing east. That is the bumper line in the background, located adjacent to 16 rail dock. The decals used on this car could still be found on lockers and such all over Buick City when I left in 1997. The story goes that production on this particular car was drastically reduced. "Maybe because they run out of decals". 

At the end of the final/slat line in factory #40 at Buick in Flint. This view is facing east. That is the bumper line in the background, located adjacent to 16 rail dock. The decals used on this car could still be found on lockers and such all over Buick City when I left in 1997. The story goes that production on this particular car was drastically reduced. "Maybe because they ran out of decals". 

The Sloan Museum car. One of only two built with a 455 cubic inch V8. Actor James Garner at Indianapolis. On the track at Indy. "The Sloan car photo was supplied by my brother Larry Godin", who was an avid Buick collector". He passed away in 1998. He was the real Buick historian in the family. "I'm just carrying on where he left off".

At Indianapolis.

1975 advertisement.

The first prototype. link here for all the statistics concerning this unique vehicle : http:// www.buickfreespirit.com/faq.html  Dean's Garage 75-76 pace cars 1981 pace car

Industrial Avenue Memories.

The location for this 1976 photo in the old Oak Park subdivision is diagrammed below. That is factory #04 in the distance. You can even see the small box like structure on the roof of the factory that is shown below.  Link the following for another Oak Park view. 

Factory #03 Lombardi And Fusi

Same house 1930. Original

Here is a 1976 photo taken by Michael Hayman. His photo is facing east towards Industrial Avenue. I knew the Oak Park neighborhood pretty good, but not as well as some crack addicts I knew.







One more Industrial Avenue business.










Another of the many businesses tied in with the Buick factory.

Facing north on Industrial Avenue at the corner of Industrial and Parkland. Shown on map below. The building on the right is 'old' factory #12.

Felix Bober in front of his service station on Industrial Avenue and Edmund Street. The maps at the bottom show the location near the Buick factory. I do not know which corner this is because Edmund street crossed Industrial at that time, when a neighborhood was still located where factory #05/building #43 would be built in the early fifties.

Link: Collier-Bober Family.

Bober's Filling Station

Bober's Filling Station
3930 Industrial Ave., Flint, Michigan

Felix Bober-2, at your service!

During 1910 these lots were being sold by a lottery drawing. This site would be the parking lot of future factory #05.







1919

1921.

Reflection's On Industrial Avenue.

These two photos related to the previous post, show the "Jam Shop on Industrial Avenue before the 1945 demolition work. In the top photo you can see the Weston-Mott factory reflected in the store front windows. The photo below shows the factory directly in the background.