The story about loading cars onto trains reminded me of a classmate back in high school who dropped out to work on the docks unloading new cars from ro/ro carriers. I don’t know how but they did not ask him whether he knew how to drive manual, which he did not. He ended up being self taught while on the job and no one questioned him until he eventually figured it out on his own. So if anyone here had bought a brand new Nissan 300zx back in 1990 which inexplicably ended up with a blown clutch or bad transmission or both through no fault of your own… well, now you know.
Sounds like my first job after highschool driving a forklift at the airport around aircraft, where I had to learn to shift gears. Thankfully it only had two speeds.
I got to WATCH my new 1983 Trans Am being BUILT at Norwood assembly. It was the best car I ever owned. The plant was very close to being closed then. This video....wow, what a great time to have worked in auto production! Thanks for posting this!
Absolutely! One of the reasons I'm into cars today was because of my Dad's 1969 Camaro that was built at Norwood. He always wanted to go tour the factory, but never got around to it. You're lucky you got to see it. Check out or documentary site at NorwoodLegends.com We are done with the cut, and finalizing licensing. Hope to have it out within a few months! You can sign up for updates at www.norwoodlegends.com/signup
In the 80's I lived right up the road from the Van Nuys plant that also built Camaros/Firebirds. I currently own a '69 GTO that was built in Fremont and 1st sold in L.A. I live about 90 miles from where the Freemont plant was.
Before roll on roll off (RORO's) dedicated car transport ships being used, I remember seeing Toyotas being unloaded with cranes from holds in special racks of three cars to the rack. 2 - 3 times a month one would roll out of the rack and drop 60 - 80 feet and hit the concrete (No one inside of course). A team of sweepers would be summoned, clean up the pile of debris and haul it to the scrap area and crush them into a cube, then when a ship load was collected be loaded back on board the ship, carried back to japan to be turned into another bunch of yotas !
My father who sadly passed away two years ago worked for Navistar International, but until 82 it was still international harvester. He worked in the Scout plant and he always told me stories of what went on or if a new Scout came down the assembly line that was a famous persons. Like Johny Cash was one,I believe Glen Cambel another, there names would always be on the build sheets. My dad retired after 33 years of hard work. Cheers.
I have a friend that loves old scouts. He has several restored in pristine showroom condition. Just think ... Maybe your dad had his hand on one of these and his hard work makes someone happy many years from when your dad first put his hand on. Appreciated reading your post! 😊
Really great story! I love Scouts too. So sorry to hear of your Dad's passing. Do you know if he has any living co-workers that worked alongside him? Would be great to capture some IH stories! We also captured some stories about celebrity cars working their way through the plants. I think they wanted to let all the workers know so they would take extra pride in assembling those! In reality, the assembly plants probably just wanted to make sure those cars were built as well as they could be so the celebrities that bought them loved the cars and drove them often!!!
When i worked at Ford, i saw them spend $20,000 to ship in 20 steering wheels. Never stop the line. I've even seen a fellow worker die from a heart attack & the forman just kicked him out of the way so the line didn't stop. You have no idea.
I can believe it. We interviewed well over 30 former employees at Norwood, and they all said you didn't stop the line unless it was an absolute emergency, and even then, it was always a race to restart it. That's a big reason quality suffered so much. GM would rather the line continue even if a part didn't get installed correctly! They would try and fix it in repair once it came off the line. And as I understand it, many did indeed get repaired, but many sneaked through with issues all the way through to dealer delivery.
Absolutely love hearing stories like this from the people who were actually there doing the work! I subbed right away after watching this first video. 👍
I am only a couple minutes in and I had to sub up. Dam I wish I would have came across this channel earlier. Look like I have some catching up to do 👍 Without getting to deep my old man ( Bless his soul) raised our family working at the plant in Oshawa. So stuff like this is really special. Ty ever so much for sharing your stories with the world. 👍🇨🇦🔧
7:27 - POINT A) they weren't worried about your health - they were worried they were going to get thier asses sued off -- POINT B) olden days : employee doesn't take any time off work and has to wear a neck brace for a couple days - VS - nowadays: employee starts screaming for someone to call ambulance and goes to see a lawyer as soon as he leaves the hospital - claims hehas a neck/backinjury and gets workers compensation until he wins his multi-million dollar neglegence and bodily injury lawsuit against GM
Absolutely! We're hoping to bring more and more stories out. We have another dropping later this week! Please share with anyone you think might like them, and thanks for watching!!!!
One small correction to the video: L.G. actually worked for Chevrolet when he started at Norwood, not Fisher Body as the callout at 1:05 states. Fisher Body controlled body assembly and paint, and Chevrolet controlled chassis and engine. Fisher Body and Chevrolet/Pontiac merged into one, the General Motors Assembly Division (GMAD), at Norwood in the 1970s.
Haha. Yeah, I guess DISASTER was a little bit of hyperbole, but having to write off a brand new factory convertible that was probably already sold to a dealer/customer was probably no fun to deal with!
“Put in an application, went to work the next day.” Meanwhile, in 2023, you can apply for ten jobs without a single call back. A buddy of mine spent a month applying at factories, plants, and even McDonald’s. Not a single place called him back, or even looked at his application. He finally got a job offer at VW, but even this has been a struggle for him(they’re making him wait a month before he can start).
Yeah, there are a lot of people out there still claiming no one wants to work, but the job market has definitely slowed to the point that it is getting hard to find employment!
@@OriginalMotorCar I know, right? It’s surprisingly difficult to find a job in 2023. But, with the recent culture shift, I guess this is just a side effect of the change. All we can really do is see how this plays out. I plan to take a back seat this upcoming election, until I’m certain who I believe we could benefit from. What I’m looking for most is the creation of job opportunities, and the stabilization of our economy. But, we’re still a year out, so it’s all TBT.
I used to work for a freight line that done a lot of automotive stuff. Heard stories of chartering a helicopter to get a box of parts in like that. Nothing overly special about the box, it's just that not having it would shut the entire plant down waiting for it. So while $5000 was a lot of money, especially back then, compared to shutting a plant down at tens of thousands per hour, it was nothing...
Yeah, it's hard to imagine, but a simple parts shortage could result in hundreds of thousands of lost dollars if they couldn't get the line going again. Van Nuys California was Norwood's sister plant, building Camaros and Firebirds. That's probably why that box was flown in from LA as L.G Mentioned.
I believe that I really would of had a heart attack from the fear of falling off the ramp and not on to the train car really would of sucked for real people for real
My dad and my brother toured ( with other people) the Norwood assembly plant and we won a book about the building of the Camaro and Firebirds. I still have that book. Our senior class went through too.
That's fantastic! I'd love to interview you about your tour experience and have you show the book in a video. Please send us an email to Hello@OriginalMotorCar.com and maybe we can arrange something!?
The part was a crush washer. It connects the brake caliper/drum to the hard or flex line, the washer crushes when tightened in order for no leaks. We still do it this way today on all cars.
Can you imagine that happened today? The airbags alone would have injured him and then OSHA would have a field day. Then of course the lawyers would get their hand in it. 😬
Enjoyed the story. I've often wondered how cars were loaded and factory assembly. I recall cars coming into the Tigard Oregon prep and distribution center with bullet holes in the doors and windows due to hunters using them for target practice while in transit. They no longer deliver cars on "open" freight train carriers and now in enclosed carriers to protect vehicles.
When I was a little kid in the early 70's my aunt had a busy railline that ran behind her house and my cousins and I used to go to this bridge down the street that went over the tracks to throw bricks and big rocks on the new cars carried on the trains, we were little brats, I remember everybody being bummed out when they put roofs and sides on the rail cars so we could no longer smash the cars.
Haha...yeah we all do things as kids we look back on and say "I can't believe we did that!" I've got my fair share of stories I look back on and think about how dumb it was!
Back when GM was at it's Greatest, unfortunately if you want the same Quality and Dependability today you Buy a Toyota or Honda. I drove Caprices as Taxis for 24 years and the 1994 and later Caprices were the worst Garbage ever Made, A L99 4.3 liter V8 that was Pathetic to say the least and a electrical system made in Mexico that was a Disaster !
WOW! That's awesome! I'd love to see that! Send me an email at Hello@OriginalMotorCar.com and I'll come out and feature it on our channel if you like. What part of the country are you in?
Was driving a truck thru El Paso past a train yard in 1984 and spotted hundreds of brand new red Pontiac Fieros with broken plastic front fenders. It was carnage. Not strapped down correctly on cars? Must have cost GM, the shipper and insurance company a ton to fix.
Similar things happened on the trucking side of new car hauling. Cars going over the front of the tractor head ramp, hitting something low like an underpass, ramps sliding out from under a vehicle during unloading, snow/ice during loading and unloading, tie down chains breaking, failures of parts of the trailers, and of course highway accidents.
Wow...yeah, I can imagine! We actually heard a similar story from the former Mayor of Norwood (He was the Police Chief when this happened). Apparently a car hauler truck had a new Camaro slide off the front right in front of City Hall, which was about a block away from the main assembly plant entrance. It rolled over the front of the cab and smashed down onto the street nose first. Were you involved in car transport? I'd love to hear some stories!
New guy here. First off what a decent channel I'm sure that it's going to be in my top 5 of favorite's. Also I have to go back thru but before that I just wanted to ask if you have any stuff about the plant in Oshawa Ontario Canada? What a guy I literally just came across your channel and I'm already asking for stuff 😂. Thank you and I will see you in the comment section 👍 🇨🇦
Haha. Not a problem at all. Ask away! We have some stuff on some of the Canadian plants, but we’re always looking for more. Send us an email to hello@originalmotorcar.com and we’ll see what we can dig up together! Thanks again for the support and kind words!!
Haha. Yeah, it was actually pretty amazing how many cars had to be scrapped. I've seen pictures of car bodies stacked up in the back lot that just got put through the metal shredder. At least LG made it out okay!
No, unfortunately I don't think any pictures exist. The thumbnail picture is of a model kit we bashed up to create the picture, and the footage in the video is of a drag racing incident with Robin Roberts' "High Voltage" Firebird.
Gm donated a 74 Nova SS to our highschool auto department that fell off a train, wasn't in that bad of shape but deal was it was never to be put back on the road.
@@OriginalMotorCar years ago (early 80s) we watched a train full of T-birds and LTDs derail at a gully washout in California. The engine and some of the train cars went into the washed gully and caught fire. but some of the train cars that left the tracks never even overturned. Although those cars were not damaged at all, we were told later by the news they all went to training centers or wrecking yards because of the risk of liability and/or warranty claims later. The odd part is that according to the news, the cars were worth very little to Ford compared to what the dealerships charged for them.
Yep they usually can't sell them once they have fallen. It's like the 80s TV show Knight Rider....many of the Trans Ams were 83 Firebirds and Camaros from a train derailment. The show producers worked out a deal with GM to use the cars in the TV series with the stipulation that they were to be returned and crushed once filming was over.
When I went to Auto tech school in Sedalia Mo . We had a donated K car with fell off the train damage { rear bumper was shoved about 8 inches forward } .
Someone else here mentioned their high school received a car that fell off a ramp from GM. Must have been a common practice among the big 3. I'm sure that allowed them to treat those cars as tax write-offs.
Atchison vo tech we had a 90 Buick park avenue that fell off the trailer ,donated to the school body looked straight but supposedly had undercarriage damage
By the mid-80s, Camaro/Firebird sales were no longer strong enough to justify two assembly plants, so one had to be shut down. Neither Norwood nor the Van Nuys plant in Los Angeles had the capacity for all Camaro and Firebird production so either would have to be expanded. The Norwood plant was hemmed on all sides by fixed infrastructure like railroads and highways and could not be expanded, while the Van Nuys plant, erected out in the post-war suburbs, had room to grow. It was more expensive to make cars in Van Nuys, not to mention the cost of shipping the bulk of production eastward, but there were no other viable options. Norwood built exclusively full-size Chevrolets and Chevrolet pickups until 1962, when it was one of the four plants assigned to assemble the Chevy II; though I do not know if the full-size Chevrolets were dropped at the plant or continued alongside the Chevy II. Accurate information is hard to come by. 1965 was the last year for pickup assembly and the new Oshawa Truck plant in Canada took over pickup production from plants like Norwood and Tarrytown NY. The plant shut down in mid '66 to re-tool for Camaro production. Firebird assembly moved from the Lordstown plant to Norwood mid-way through the 1969 model run. The Nova was added in 1971 and if I'm not mistaken, the Pontiac Ventura II as well, supplementing the Wlllow Run plant. Norwood was the site of one of GM's most protracted and troublesome strikes in 1972 and nearly half a year's production was lost. With the exception of some 1974 Buick Apollos, Norwood concentrated on the Camaro and Firebird until its closure.
Thanks for adding this. As someone who is really into the history of the plant, please look forward to our Norwood feature length documentary: www.norwoodlegends.com/ You can sign up for updates on its release here (will be coming out VERY soon!): www.norwoodlegends.com/signup
What a great story! Real cool walking away from such a crash and not loosing your job, let alone paying the bill on the new car. I wonder where it went...
Agreed! Unfortunately it was probably scrapped. GM would keep crushers out back of every plant, and cars damaged beyond repair, which this one certainly would have been, most likely would have gone into one of those crusher to scrap and recycle immediately.
Really cool stories and pictures as well. Pretty neat seeing the new Firebirds on the same load with the new Camaros. Were there a lot more Camaros built than Firebirds ? Looked like only a couple Firebirds with each load of Camaros
Generally speaking, many more Camaros were built than Firebirds due to cost. Firebird was always a slightly more expense model, as Pontiac was the higher performance, slightly more luxurious option than Chevrolet. I think generally there were about 3-4 Camaros to every Firebird. But there were periods where Firebirds outsold Camaros, like the late 70s when Smokey and the Bandit came out. Norwood and Van Nuys couldn't build enough Trans Ams from 77-79 from what I'm told!
Haha. I bet loads of them fell off car haulers. We actually heard a story about a Camaro that fell off of a car hauler right in front of Norwood City Hall about a block from the plant. When the car hauler stoped, the Camaro slid right over the top of the cab and straight down on its nose!
I worked at a place when a fork truck & driver was inside a trailer when the truck driver drove forward. The fork truck backed out of the trailer and fell to the ground with a double stack pallet. Quite the mess.
@davidszakacs6888 you're close. 67-69 were indeed built at Lordstown. But in '68 they were also rolled into production at the Van Nuys. And in '69 they were introduced at Norwood. The first production '69 TA actually rolled off the line at Norwood. There was at least 1 pre-production TA that pre-dated the first production model (built for GM research and development, photoshoots and the car show circuit purposes) that was built at GM headquarters from a Van Nuys '69 Firebird, but first '69 TA off the assembly line was at Norwood.
Yeah I can remember having to repair and driving a few Camaro’s and T/A’s as a mechanic. Now I cannot tell you what went though his head, but I can take a couple of guesses as to what came out his mouth. And only one of them is PG rated.
I'd LOVE today to have one of those railroad cars full of Camaro's or Trans Am , you will have a couple million dollars worth of cars today ...............................SWEET !
Yes, interestingly….. Remembering my 1977 Trans Am/ Special ED, *Hurst Hatches, loaded, my special Order from late OCT 1976, coming thru a couple, Michigan (*HURST PROducts , lastly??) points to WARSAW INDIANA, on Delivery TICKETS, in “” March 1977: a bit convoluted , and missing side pinstripes.. (* oddly I deleted : WINDOW TINT, and failed to delete “Hood Screaming Chicken”, ((** My memory suggests Dealer said “ NA , or do NOT delete?; I totally forgotten for **CERTAIN).. actually, same Dealer Parents got 1953 Black/yellow BUICK DYNAFLOW………etc.
my grandfather was waist down paralyzed and used hand controls. when he went in for a service on his Starfire Olds, the dealer had the city's first Toronado. the flat floor made loading the wheelchair a whole lot easier. he went on to own 3 Toros. I'm a kid watching a load of new cars unloading and oops, one fell off the ramps. I'm sure they fixed the damage and sold it to an unsuspecting customer. 😮
the Toronado was an amazing car. my younger brother had rotated to the Saturday morning fishing trip. on the way back to town the car had a low tone that didn't go away. Gramps pulled over and brother took a look, "Gramps, there's no tire". a good Samaritan saw the dilemma, a 12 year boy and a paralyzed grandfather. they had gone for miles without knowing a rear tire was missing. amazing car.😮
What a great story by LG. I'm sure nobody back then thought the pony and midsized cars of the late 1960s would ever be worth something someday. Though I think the price on them will decrease some as the target audience (boomers) dies off.
Yeah, we have some great interviews with folks that built these cars in the 60s, and they all said they never would have imagined that these cars would be so special. The one thing that will likely keep these cars up in value is the fact that they are the last of an era before regulations choked out all of their analog performance and ultimately led to the malaise era of the 70s and 80s. But I do agree that prices will begin to cool a bit more as other more modern classics become popular.
My first real job was summer job lotboy and helper prep new cars at very dour Mercedes dealership. Service manager gave me a death stare like German comendant. Thankfully I never scratched any cars. But I was hired full time. I worked there 3 years but I wanted to try some other job. Ended up working with vehicles or transit 40 years.
I started on an assembly line at the Honda factory and I eventually started loading railcars aswell, any place that loads railcars will have a story like this a car gets totalled about once a year
Well currently I do this exact job everyday. I can tell you when you’re driving up to the ramp and even when you start going up the ramp even on C deck on a tri level rail car. You can see if the rail car is there or not 🤦♂️
I think that's the difference in a closed top and open top train car I would imagine. Back then, the train cars where just open, like at 4:40. I imagine that made it harder to see the train car.
The man that would mastermind and design the rail packaging for the Chevrolet Vega witnessed that accident. He got the idea to ship them all standing up 🙃
The story was rather endearing. The title is ridiculous. I guess the click bait worked that once, but I choose not to like, subscribe to or support a channel that resorts to such bottom-feeding tactics.
Hahaha . Yeah, I guess you get tired of looking at the same thing you've seen for your whole career and just want something different. The model A was a really influential car. Arguably even more so than the Model T! L.G. had good taste in cars, that's for sure!
Looks like the Road Runner was assembled at Chrysler's Lynch Road Assembly plant, just north of the Dodge Main factory. Does anyone here know any folks that worked at Lynch Road durring the 70s? If so, we'll travel out and interview them!
We’ll, the nature of those old rail cars is that you couldn’t see them past the ramp because they weren’t covered. So he wouldn’t have been able to see that no car was there.
Norwood ohio,,plants gone last cars built there were the 3rd gen Camaro/firebird line..then they went to van nuys CA for the 88-92 model years and that plant closed as well…
@@glenerickson358 Actually, the first generation Firebirds (1967-1969) were built at the Lordstown assembly plant in Ohio, alongside full-sized Chevys.
How about the car, did they take that to the trauma center? Only kidding, great story. When you could order options & customize your car from the factory.
The story about loading cars onto trains reminded me of a classmate back in high school who dropped out to work on the docks unloading new cars from ro/ro carriers. I don’t know how but they did not ask him whether he knew how to drive manual, which he did not. He ended up being self taught while on the job and no one questioned him until he eventually figured it out on his own.
So if anyone here had bought a brand new Nissan 300zx back in 1990 which inexplicably ended up with a blown clutch or bad transmission or both through no fault of your own… well, now you know.
Hahaha. Great story!
Sounds like my first job after highschool driving a forklift at the airport around aircraft, where I had to learn to shift gears. Thankfully it only had two speeds.
Was going on an interview for a welding job my uncle taught me what he could overnight and the next day I was hired. Do what you gotta do.
I got to WATCH my new 1983 Trans Am being BUILT at Norwood assembly. It was the best car I ever owned. The plant was very close to being closed then. This video....wow, what a great time to have worked in auto production! Thanks for posting this!
Absolutely! One of the reasons I'm into cars today was because of my Dad's 1969 Camaro that was built at Norwood. He always wanted to go tour the factory, but never got around to it. You're lucky you got to see it. Check out or documentary site at NorwoodLegends.com
We are done with the cut, and finalizing licensing. Hope to have it out within a few months! You can sign up for updates at www.norwoodlegends.com/signup
In the 80's I lived right up the road from the Van Nuys plant that also built Camaros/Firebirds. I currently own a '69 GTO that was built in Fremont and 1st sold in L.A. I live about 90 miles from where the Freemont plant was.
Before roll on roll off (RORO's) dedicated car transport ships being used, I remember seeing Toyotas being unloaded
with cranes from holds in special racks of three cars to the rack. 2 - 3 times a month one would roll out of the rack and
drop 60 - 80 feet and hit the concrete (No one inside of course). A team of sweepers would be summoned, clean up the
pile of debris and haul it to the scrap area and crush them into a cube, then when a ship load was collected be loaded
back on board the ship, carried back to japan to be turned into another bunch of yotas !
Wow! What a story! That would have been amazing to record on camera!!! You ever get any pictures?
Wow! What a thing to see! That would have been really amazing to capture on camera. We’re you ever able to take a picture?
My father who sadly passed away two years ago worked for Navistar International, but until 82 it was still international harvester. He worked in the Scout plant and he always told me stories of what went on or if a new Scout came down the assembly line that was a famous persons. Like Johny Cash was one,I believe Glen Cambel another, there names would always be on the build sheets. My dad retired after 33 years of hard work. Cheers.
I have a friend that loves old scouts. He has several restored in pristine showroom condition. Just think ... Maybe your dad had his hand on one of these and his hard work makes someone happy many years from when your dad first put his hand on. Appreciated reading your post! 😊
Really great story! I love Scouts too. So sorry to hear of your Dad's passing. Do you know if he has any living co-workers that worked alongside him? Would be great to capture some IH stories!
We also captured some stories about celebrity cars working their way through the plants. I think they wanted to let all the workers know so they would take extra pride in assembling those! In reality, the assembly plants probably just wanted to make sure those cars were built as well as they could be so the celebrities that bought them loved the cars and drove them often!!!
When i worked at Ford, i saw them spend $20,000 to ship in 20 steering wheels. Never stop the line. I've even seen a fellow worker die from a heart attack & the forman just kicked him out of the way so the line didn't stop. You have no idea.
Wow
Sounds made up.
But we must remember: 'corporations care', right?
@@42lookc hah! Never have.
I can believe it. We interviewed well over 30 former employees at Norwood, and they all said you didn't stop the line unless it was an absolute emergency, and even then, it was always a race to restart it.
That's a big reason quality suffered so much. GM would rather the line continue even if a part didn't get installed correctly! They would try and fix it in repair once it came off the line. And as I understand it, many did indeed get repaired, but many sneaked through with issues all the way through to dealer delivery.
Absolutely love hearing stories like this from the people who were actually there doing the work!
I subbed right away after watching this first video. 👍
Thanks so much! Really appreciate the support! Please share with anyone else you think might like it too!
I am only a couple minutes in and I had to sub up. Dam I wish I would have came across this channel earlier. Look like I have some catching up to do 👍
Without getting to deep my old man ( Bless his soul) raised our family working at the plant in Oshawa. So stuff like this is really special. Ty ever so much for sharing your stories with the world. 👍🇨🇦🔧
Great find, subscribed before finishing video!
I was going to say something similar.
7:27 - POINT A) they weren't worried about your health - they were worried they were going to get thier asses sued off -- POINT B) olden days : employee doesn't take any time off work and has to wear a neck brace for a couple days - VS - nowadays: employee starts screaming for someone to call ambulance and goes to see a lawyer as soon as he leaves the hospital - claims hehas a neck/backinjury and gets workers compensation until he wins his multi-million dollar neglegence and bodily injury lawsuit against GM
Haha...so true, unfortunately!
Love listening to these stories about the classics we luv today.
Thank you for sharing.
Absolutely! We're hoping to bring more and more stories out. We have another dropping later this week! Please share with anyone you think might like them, and thanks for watching!!!!
One small correction to the video: L.G. actually worked for Chevrolet when he started at Norwood, not Fisher Body as the callout at 1:05 states. Fisher Body controlled body assembly and paint, and Chevrolet controlled chassis and engine. Fisher Body and Chevrolet/Pontiac merged into one, the General Motors Assembly Division (GMAD), at Norwood in the 1970s.
I don't see how the wreck was a big disaster for General Motors.
Haha. Yeah, I guess DISASTER was a little bit of hyperbole, but having to write off a brand new factory convertible that was probably already sold to a dealer/customer was probably no fun to deal with!
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“Put in an application, went to work the next day.”
Meanwhile, in 2023, you can apply for ten jobs without a single call back. A buddy of mine spent a month applying at factories, plants, and even McDonald’s. Not a single place called him back, or even looked at his application. He finally got a job offer at VW, but even this has been a struggle for him(they’re making him wait a month before he can start).
Yeah, there are a lot of people out there still claiming no one wants to work, but the job market has definitely slowed to the point that it is getting hard to find employment!
@@OriginalMotorCar I know, right? It’s surprisingly difficult to find a job in 2023. But, with the recent culture shift, I guess this is just a side effect of the change. All we can really do is see how this plays out. I plan to take a back seat this upcoming election, until I’m certain who I believe we could benefit from. What I’m looking for most is the creation of job opportunities, and the stabilization of our economy. But, we’re still a year out, so it’s all TBT.
I used to work for a freight line that done a lot of automotive stuff. Heard stories of chartering a helicopter to get a box of parts in like that. Nothing overly special about the box, it's just that not having it would shut the entire plant down waiting for it. So while $5000 was a lot of money, especially back then, compared to shutting a plant down at tens of thousands per hour, it was nothing...
Yeah, it's hard to imagine, but a simple parts shortage could result in hundreds of thousands of lost dollars if they couldn't get the line going again. Van Nuys California was Norwood's sister plant, building Camaros and Firebirds. That's probably why that box was flown in from LA as L.G Mentioned.
Awesome, that was my job at the Port of LA for over 33 years loading Nissan's and Infiniti's.... go Rail Loaders!!! 💯
Very cool!
I believe that I really would of had a heart attack from the fear of falling off the ramp and not on to the train car really would of sucked for real people for real
Haha...YES. Must have been TERRIFYING!
Thanks for liking my statement very much appreciated to who ever liked it may god bless you abundantly in Jesus name amen
That was a very interesting video, thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the comment! Is that your El Camino SS in your profile pic? Looks nice!
@@OriginalMotorCar yes, it is. Thank you! It can be seen on my TH-cam channel Cars and Chrome.
Damn just sering those railcars loaded up with those 70's Camaros makes my heart go pitter patter!!!❤
My dad and my brother toured ( with other people) the Norwood assembly plant and we won a book about the building of the Camaro and Firebirds. I still have that book. Our senior class went through too.
That's fantastic! I'd love to interview you about your tour experience and have you show the book in a video. Please send us an email to Hello@OriginalMotorCar.com and maybe we can arrange something!?
The part was a crush washer. It connects the brake caliper/drum to the hard or flex line, the washer crushes when tightened in order for no leaks. We still do it this way today on all cars.
LOL! I wonder how many of these washers cost back when this gentleman was talking about! I love these stories.
Should've called the local dealer, or even NAPA and had some delivered. 😅
What I was thinking in how he was trying to describe it. Copper crush washer for the banjo bolt.
Thanks for the info! Very informative.
Scary ramp story. Glad he was ok.
Agreed!
He thought they said load that Flyerbird.
Can you imagine that happened today? The airbags alone would have injured him and then OSHA would have a field day. Then of course the lawyers would get their hand in it. 😬
What beautiful new camaros on that train.
Enjoyed the story. I've often wondered how cars were loaded and factory assembly. I recall cars coming into the Tigard Oregon prep and distribution center with bullet holes in the doors and windows due to hunters using them for target practice while in transit. They no longer deliver cars on "open" freight train carriers and now in enclosed carriers to protect vehicles.
When I was a little kid in the early 70's my aunt had a busy railline that ran behind her house and my cousins and I used to go to this bridge down the street that went over the tracks to throw bricks and big rocks on the new cars carried on the trains, we were little brats, I remember everybody being bummed out when they put roofs and sides on the rail cars so we could no longer smash the cars.
Haha...yeah we all do things as kids we look back on and say "I can't believe we did that!" I've got my fair share of stories I look back on and think about how dumb it was!
WOW! Talkin' about IDIOTS!!!
Back when GM was at it's Greatest, unfortunately if you want the same Quality and Dependability today you Buy a Toyota or Honda. I drove Caprices as Taxis for 24 years and the 1994 and later Caprices were the worst Garbage ever Made, A L99 4.3 liter V8 that was Pathetic to say the least and a electrical system made in Mexico that was a Disaster !
Yep, they certainly don't make them like they used to!
those old timers are the best ..they take me back to better times ..
Yeah, I could listen to folks from this generation for days!
I worked for pontiac in 85' I've had a lot of story's it was a fun job
If you are interested in telling us some stories, potentially on camera, shoot us an email to Hello@OriginalMotorCar.com. We'd love to talk with you!
Remember the fierro??my late wife had a 84 red over dark charcoal 5 speed manual in college great memories ❤
I love the inside back stories.
Thanks!!! Share the love and send them to anyone you think might like them too!! :)
Thank you sir for sharing that. It is greatly appreciated, would love to hear more stories.
We have more coming… Check back to the channel often. We’ll be posting more soon!
The good old days. What a cool story.
Thanks for the comment! Yeah, those guys back in the 60s were sure working in the heyday of truly special cars!
Barrel guy was lucky he didn't get smacked lol
I think I would have tried to! haha
I have a 37 pickup that was built at the Norwood plant.
WOW! That's awesome! I'd love to see that! Send me an email at Hello@OriginalMotorCar.com and I'll come out and feature it on our channel if you like. What part of the country are you in?
I am in the Dayton Ohio area.
I work for GM me and my brothers from 68 to 2016
What plant did you work in?
Interesting to hear the behind the stories
Yeah, these stories are really incredible!
That’s a great story. Great pics too.
Thanks! Yeah, L.G. really worked an interesting career!!
That would definitely be a change of underwear moment for sure. Always like these stories from back in the day.
Hahahaha. Yes indeed! And in a convertible too! Thank goodness they got him out before it flipped over!
Was driving a truck thru El Paso past a train yard in 1984 and spotted hundreds of brand new red Pontiac Fieros with broken plastic front fenders. It was carnage. Not strapped down correctly on cars? Must have cost GM, the shipper and insurance company a ton to fix.
Wow. That must have been a sad sight!
I bet it was the Banjo washer for the brake line to the caliber connection. Cool old stories.
Might have been. Crazy how many little specialty parts were needed to complete those cars!
Similar things happened on the trucking side of new car hauling.
Cars going over the front of the tractor head ramp, hitting something low like an underpass, ramps sliding out from under a vehicle during unloading, snow/ice during loading and unloading, tie down chains breaking, failures of parts of the trailers, and of course highway accidents.
Wow...yeah, I can imagine! We actually heard a similar story from the former Mayor of Norwood (He was the Police Chief when this happened). Apparently a car hauler truck had a new Camaro slide off the front right in front of City Hall, which was about a block away from the main assembly plant entrance. It rolled over the front of the cab and smashed down onto the street nose first.
Were you involved in car transport? I'd love to hear some stories!
@@OriginalMotorCar I was. Almost 11 years from 1979 through the end of 1989. Anchor Motor Freight.
New guy here. First off what a decent channel I'm sure that it's going to be in my top 5 of favorite's. Also I have to go back thru but before that I just wanted to ask if you have any stuff about the plant in Oshawa Ontario Canada? What a guy I literally just came across your channel and I'm already asking for stuff 😂. Thank you and I will see you in the comment section 👍 🇨🇦
Haha. Not a problem at all. Ask away! We have some stuff on some of the Canadian plants, but we’re always looking for more. Send us an email to hello@originalmotorcar.com and we’ll see what we can dig up together! Thanks again for the support and kind words!!
That was great...the story...not the outcome for the poor Firebird...and a rag top to boot...oh my...
Haha. Yeah, it was actually pretty amazing how many cars had to be scrapped. I've seen pictures of car bodies stacked up in the back lot that just got put through the metal shredder. At least LG made it out okay!
Amazing story glad he wasn't hurt.Are there pics of the incident?
No, unfortunately I don't think any pictures exist. The thumbnail picture is of a model kit we bashed up to create the picture, and the footage in the video is of a drag racing incident with Robin Roberts' "High Voltage" Firebird.
Gm donated a 74 Nova SS to our highschool auto department that fell off a train, wasn't in that bad of shape but deal was it was never to be put back on the road.
That's really interesting. I guess GM was able to make it a tax write off for the donation.
@@OriginalMotorCar years ago (early 80s) we watched a train full of T-birds and LTDs derail at a gully washout in California. The engine and some of the train cars went into the washed gully and caught fire. but some of the train cars that left the tracks never even overturned. Although those cars were not damaged at all, we were told later by the news they all went to training centers or wrecking yards because of the risk of liability and/or warranty claims later. The odd part is that according to the news, the cars were worth very little to Ford compared to what the dealerships charged for them.
Yep they usually can't sell them once they have fallen. It's like the 80s TV show Knight Rider....many of the Trans Ams were 83 Firebirds and Camaros from a train derailment. The show producers worked out a deal with GM to use the cars in the TV series with the stipulation that they were to be returned and crushed once filming was over.
That gentleman probably helped to assemble my Trans-am fire bird back in 1974. It was built in Norwood plant.
He probably did! I think it's a lot of fun to talk with these guys that built the cars we love. So neat to hear their stories!
I wonder if he had the opportunity for "on piece at a time."
Haha...great song!
@@OriginalMotorCar It was my goal in life at some point. Just look at all the junk in my garage.
My 68 Camaro was made in Norwood. It was very cool to hear from one of the people that had a part in building it.
Stay tuned for more. We have LOADS of interviews from former Norwood employees!
LG is a wealth of information, pretty good story teller too. Really enjoyed it.
He was great to interview. Very nice guy indeed!
Loved the old cars . The 55 Bel-Air two door hard top is my favorite old Classic Car they looked good then and they looked good now.
I have to say that I am partial to the 55s as well. My Dad owns a '55 Pontiac Star Chief. Beautiful car!!!!
When I went to Auto tech school in Sedalia Mo . We had a donated K car with fell off the train damage { rear bumper was shoved about 8 inches forward } .
Someone else here mentioned their high school received a car that fell off a ramp from GM. Must have been a common practice among the big 3. I'm sure that allowed them to treat those cars as tax write-offs.
Small world. I used to work and live 18 miles west of Sedalia in Knob Noster.
Atchison vo tech we had a 90 Buick park avenue that fell off the trailer ,donated to the school body looked straight but supposedly had undercarriage damage
By the mid-80s, Camaro/Firebird sales were no longer strong enough to justify two assembly plants, so one had to be shut down. Neither Norwood nor the Van Nuys plant in Los Angeles had the capacity for all Camaro and Firebird production so either would have to be expanded. The Norwood plant was hemmed on all sides by fixed infrastructure like railroads and highways and could not be expanded, while the Van Nuys plant, erected out in the post-war suburbs, had room to grow. It was more expensive to make cars in Van Nuys, not to mention the cost of shipping the bulk of production eastward, but there were no other viable options.
Norwood built exclusively full-size Chevrolets and Chevrolet pickups until 1962, when it was one of the four plants assigned to assemble the Chevy II; though I do not know if the full-size Chevrolets were dropped at the plant or continued alongside the Chevy II. Accurate information is hard to come by. 1965 was the last year for pickup assembly and the new Oshawa Truck plant in Canada took over pickup production from plants like Norwood and Tarrytown NY.
The plant shut down in mid '66 to re-tool for Camaro production. Firebird assembly moved from the Lordstown plant to Norwood mid-way through the 1969 model run. The Nova was added in 1971 and if I'm not mistaken, the Pontiac Ventura II as well, supplementing the Wlllow Run plant. Norwood was the site of one of GM's most protracted and troublesome strikes in 1972 and nearly half a year's production was lost. With the exception of some 1974 Buick Apollos, Norwood concentrated on the Camaro and Firebird until its closure.
Thanks for adding this. As someone who is really into the history of the plant, please look forward to our Norwood feature length documentary:
www.norwoodlegends.com/
You can sign up for updates on its release here (will be coming out VERY soon!):
www.norwoodlegends.com/signup
The Van Nuys plant location is just a big shopping center now.
What a great story! Real cool walking away from such a crash and not loosing your job, let alone paying the bill on the new car. I wonder where it went...
Museum somewhere maybe??
Agreed! Unfortunately it was probably scrapped. GM would keep crushers out back of every plant, and cars damaged beyond repair, which this one certainly would have been, most likely would have gone into one of those crusher to scrap and recycle immediately.
Really cool stories and pictures as well. Pretty neat seeing the new Firebirds on the same load with the new Camaros. Were there a lot more Camaros built than Firebirds ? Looked like only a couple Firebirds with each load of Camaros
Generally speaking, many more Camaros were built than Firebirds due to cost. Firebird was always a slightly more expense model, as Pontiac was the higher performance, slightly more luxurious option than Chevrolet. I think generally there were about 3-4 Camaros to every Firebird. But there were periods where Firebirds outsold Camaros, like the late 70s when Smokey and the Bandit came out. Norwood and Van Nuys couldn't build enough Trans Ams from 77-79 from what I'm told!
ask a car hauler how many times that happens..
Haha. I bet loads of them fell off car haulers. We actually heard a story about a Camaro that fell off of a car hauler right in front of Norwood City Hall about a block from the plant. When the car hauler stoped, the Camaro slid right over the top of the cab and straight down on its nose!
This is very cool. Enjoyed all the old classics being built! What a cool job (s) mr Martin.
They don't build classics like the gentleman in this post. Classics like him are made over time.
I love these stories because it's a time when our country was number one.
It was a pretty special time and special generation!
I worked at a place when a fork truck & driver was inside a trailer when the truck driver drove forward. The fork truck backed out of the trailer and fell to the ground with a double stack pallet. Quite the mess.
Oh boy! Sounds like a scene from a movie. Haha
Correction, the first generation ('67-'69) Firebirds were actually built at the Lordstown, Ohio plant, alongside full-sized Chevys.
@davidszakacs6888 you're close. 67-69 were indeed built at Lordstown. But in '68 they were also rolled into production at the Van Nuys. And in '69 they were introduced at Norwood. The first production '69 TA actually rolled off the line at Norwood. There was at least 1 pre-production TA that pre-dated the first production model (built for GM research and development, photoshoots and the car show circuit purposes) that was built at GM headquarters from a Van Nuys '69 Firebird, but first '69 TA off the assembly line was at Norwood.
The view of those new 1967 RS/SS Camaros at 4:49 is something else. 👍
Absolutely! That was a photo of Phelps Chevrolet, I believe in Greenville, SC. thegeneralmerchant.tumblr.com/image/106624825453
Yeah I can remember having to repair and driving a few Camaro’s and T/A’s as a mechanic. Now I cannot tell you what went though his head, but I can take a couple of guesses as to what came out his mouth. And only one of them is PG rated.
Hahaha...yep, I think you're probably right!
Love the 69 Camario.
Haha...Camario! Best pronunciation ever!!!
Great video I am glad to see it
Glad you enjoyed it! Please share it with others you think might like it too!
I'd LOVE today to have one of those railroad cars full of Camaro's or Trans Am , you will have a couple million dollars
worth of cars today ...............................SWEET !
Absolutely! That would make an incredible display at a car show!!!!
I love the train car full of cars at 7:12. On the top row right the maroon z28 with matching rims and the black trans am in the middle.
Yes, interestingly….. Remembering my 1977 Trans Am/ Special ED, *Hurst Hatches, loaded, my special Order from late OCT 1976, coming thru a couple, Michigan (*HURST PROducts , lastly??) points to WARSAW INDIANA, on Delivery TICKETS, in “” March 1977: a bit convoluted , and missing side pinstripes.. (* oddly I deleted : WINDOW TINT, and failed to delete “Hood Screaming Chicken”, ((** My memory suggests Dealer said “ NA , or do NOT delete?; I totally forgotten for **CERTAIN).. actually, same Dealer Parents got 1953 Black/yellow BUICK DYNAFLOW………etc.
Yeah, I can only imagine seeing a train load of those going by!
my grandfather was waist down paralyzed and used hand controls. when he went in for a service on his Starfire Olds, the dealer had the city's first Toronado. the flat floor made loading the wheelchair a whole lot easier. he went on to own 3 Toros. I'm a kid watching a load of new cars unloading and oops, one fell off the ramps. I'm sure they fixed the damage and sold it to an unsuspecting customer. 😮
Wow. I bet that was something to see. Especially as a kid!!!
the Toronado was an amazing car. my younger brother had rotated to the Saturday morning fishing trip. on the way back to town the car had a low tone that didn't go away. Gramps pulled over and brother took a look, "Gramps, there's no tire". a good Samaritan saw the dilemma, a 12 year boy and a paralyzed grandfather. they had gone for miles without knowing a rear tire was missing. amazing car.😮
What a great story by LG. I'm sure nobody back then thought the pony and midsized cars of the late 1960s would ever be worth something someday. Though I think the price on them will decrease some as the target audience (boomers) dies off.
Yeah, we have some great interviews with folks that built these cars in the 60s, and they all said they never would have imagined that these cars would be so special. The one thing that will likely keep these cars up in value is the fact that they are the last of an era before regulations choked out all of their analog performance and ultimately led to the malaise era of the 70s and 80s. But I do agree that prices will begin to cool a bit more as other more modern classics become popular.
Loved it!
Thank you! Please share with anyone else you think might love it too, and stay tuned for more great stories!
My first real job was summer job lotboy and helper prep new cars at very dour Mercedes dealership. Service manager gave me a death stare like German comendant. Thankfully I never scratched any cars. But I was hired full time. I worked there 3 years but I wanted to try some other job. Ended up working with vehicles or transit 40 years.
Thanks for sharing! Sounds like the early jobs on the lot were good training for later your work!
I worked for a mechanical contractor at a well known automotive/motorcycle manufacturer some of the things I saw, UFB
We'd love to interview you! Please send us an email to Hello@OriginalMotorCar.com and maybe we can arrange something!?
lucky to be here!! man... my dad worked at New Departure, Bristol, ct... prefex..
Welcome! Glad you found the channel! Please share with anyone you think might enjoy these stories too!
I started on an assembly line at the Honda factory and I eventually started loading railcars aswell, any place that loads railcars will have a story like this a car gets totalled about once a year
Which Honda plant? I had an uncle that worked at the Lincoln Assembly plant in Alabama.
@@OriginalMotorCar Alliston Ontario Canada, they opened in 1988 but built mostly accords until the mid 2000s when they started building suvs
Well currently I do this exact job everyday. I can tell you when you’re driving up to the ramp and even when you start going up the ramp even on C deck on a tri level rail car. You can see if the rail car is there or not 🤦♂️
I think that's the difference in a closed top and open top train car I would imagine. Back then, the train cars where just open, like at 4:40. I imagine that made it harder to see the train car.
The man that would mastermind and design the rail packaging for the Chevrolet Vega witnessed that accident. He got the idea to ship them all standing up 🙃
Haha...YES! That nose down packing in the train cars is wild!
@@OriginalMotorCar Haha that's what I thought of looking at the thumbnail, the vertical rail cars. Instead it was an "Unintentional Burt Reynolds."
That would be like dukes / that guy is classic man 😊
Haha...totally!
At 2:01 you can see the official GM production line "hammer guy", it's brand new and all ready beaten with a hammer.
Sometimes these new cars just needed a little “persuasion” to go together right! ;)
Love that this is being done we have built some of the best auto’s ever and the Workers who built the American Dream.
Agreed!
I liked the Lear Jet *just in time* parts hustle. Only in America to fly a box of washers into the plant! Gotta make that quota. Lol
The story was rather endearing. The title is ridiculous. I guess the click bait worked that once, but I choose not to like, subscribe to or support a channel that resorts to such bottom-feeding tactics.
We didn't think it was THAT exaggerated...haha. "Bottom-feeding" is a little harsh, don't you think?
It is a great story
Indeed!
When he got to the top!oh shit!!😮
Haha..yep. That about sums it up!
I work at the local 863 Sharonville
Oh that's great! Welcome to the channel and thanks for watching!
Camario😂
Haha...yeah. L.G. was a good old boy with a real twang! What an endearing dude!
bet he said oh shit on the way down 🤣
I know I would have!
I worked at a Chevy plant so I sold my Belair and bought a Ford. Okay
Hahaha . Yeah, I guess you get tired of looking at the same thing you've seen for your whole career and just want something different.
The model A was a really influential car. Arguably even more so than the Model T! L.G. had good taste in cars, that's for sure!
@@OriginalMotorCar There was also what appeared to be a mid to late '50s Ford truck in the shot with him wearing the neck collar.
Great story love automotive assembly line videos would like to see 1969 Plymouth road runner assembly plant .
Looks like the Road Runner was assembled at Chrysler's Lynch Road Assembly plant, just north of the Dodge Main factory. Does anyone here know any folks that worked at Lynch Road durring the 70s? If so, we'll travel out and interview them!
chrysler built roadrunners at the st louis(fenton mo) plant.
st louis built the corvette that are now the classics! i saw the st louis plant in 1968 when i was 10.
Glad it was not my 68 ss
Haha...indeed!
And this A Very Very Hard Working Job I was a loader of the cars and unloading the cars 12 hours and overtime.
Wow. Was the 12 hour shift the normal shift length, or was that only occasionally?
gotta hide the good stuff right.
Rly cool
Thanks! Yeah, it’s hard to imagine what it would be like going off that ramp! Must have been terrifying!!!
That’s greta
Looking to hear from line workers from Kansas City PLEASE 68-72❤️ preferably 69
Thanks for the request! Do you know anyone from the plant that you could connect us with? We'd love to interview them!
@@OriginalMotorCar I'd really like to hear more about the strike back then. 👍
All that BLAH BLAH BLAH for a 20 second story!
He tells 3 stories, and we think they’re pretty great!
Not the sharpest tool in the shed
We’ll, the nature of those old rail cars is that you couldn’t see them past the ramp because they weren’t covered. So he wouldn’t have been able to see that no car was there.
Where I worked, if you F'd up like that you'd have to wear the dummy hat for the rest of your life.
Haha. I bet the guy that didn't move that cone/barrel very likely did! Where did you work?
workmans comp.....
Haha...yeah, that would be mandatory time off and a HUGE settlement these days I'm sure!
And Norwood is where ?
It's in Ohio, right outside of Cincinnati.
Norwood ohio,,plants gone last cars built there were the 3rd gen Camaro/firebird line..then they went to van nuys CA for the 88-92 model years and that plant closed as well…
Ohio. Only one of 2 plants building Firebirds and Camaro. Other is Van Nuys, CA. Was that way until '93s were built in Canada.
My 55 Bel-Air was built in Norwood in November 1954.
@@glenerickson358 Actually, the first generation Firebirds (1967-1969) were built at the Lordstown assembly plant in Ohio, alongside full-sized Chevys.
Time off? Should have fired him.
Haha. Agreed! That's a pretty major oversight!
🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰
Thanks! We feel the same way!
How about the car, did they take that to the trauma center? Only kidding, great story. When you could order options & customize your car from the factory.