At a recent video post on the issue of Italian cars rusting prematurely, in part because raw Alfa Sud bodies were left out in the weather for days and weeks, a commenter asked about that happening to certain American cars whose bodies were built at some distance from the final assembly. Like these Hudsons, presumably. And Lots of Nashes and Ramblers. But the key difference was that these bodies were fully painted before they were transported across town.
These shots were taken in the Jefferson/Conner area of Detroit, where both Hudson and Chrysler had plants. The Dodge, taking a refreshment break in front of the Sports Center Bar, is hauling what looks like transmissions.
I have seen those pix before, but not in color.
I was chatting with a former AMC Kenosha assembly worker some years ago. He confirmed there were days when Kenosha assembly was shut down, because the snowstorm between there and Milwaukee was too bad for the body trucks to make the trip.
A snow storm may have made hard to get the big cars from the Milwaukee Body plant to Kenosha Main Plant, and if it was really bad it may have slowed down the body trucks from Lakefront Plant, but a large percentage of the AMC bodies were built right there in Kenosha Main Plant. So they may have shut down one of the final assembly lines, but they never closed the plant because body trucks couldn’t get in. When they quit building the big cars (Ambassadors, Rebels, and Matadors), and even closed the Lakefront Plant, they still built cars at main plant. I’m retired out of that plant.
Painted, with trunks a fluttering, with mailman efficiency delivery, hot, cold, windy, raining or snow the Hudson’s must be delivered. I wonder if they cleaned them up upon arrival? How far did the bodies have to travel and how many trucks did they need to keep production running smoothly? At least they weren’t flying them in from Italy!
The “transmission truck” driver may have stopped in to us that “public telephone”.
Everyone knows how important the fluid level is in a transmission and I’m sure that the driver of the transmission truck is just maintaining his fluid level.
GM was still doing this in Lansing until maybe 20 years ago. The Fisher Body plant (originally Durant/Star) was 1.5-2 miles from the traditional Oldsmobile complex. They had a fleet of double deck trailers that were mostly enclosed, but did not have end doors.
I was the commenter, and painted they are. Should have checked before posting.
It’s always more tempting to just shoot from the hip, though.;)
GM-H used to do that in the 1960s. Painted, sometimes fully trimmed bodies were shipped/ railed interstate.
I assume the width regulations were on the liberal side,
Corvair bodies were built at a Fisher Body plant complete with glass, interior and trim and shipped to Chevrolet plants to be finished. There is a “69 Corvair body at the Corvair Museum in Springfield Illinois. It is red with a black interior. All finished except for the drivetrain and other mechanical parts. Never completely finished.