St. Louis assembly plant

[GN]

Here are some pictures of the plant in STL.

[41husk]

I drove by there last weekend, kinda sad

[moparstuart]

very sad

[69bronzeT5]

What a shame. Was the also the St.Louis plant in the 60s/70s?

[41husk]

Yes Fenton has been the Chrysler plant since I could remember.

[moparstuart]

What a shame. Was the also the St.Louis plant in the 60s/70s?

all b body converts were made in fenton

the birdible was built there and then sent off to long island new york , then i brought it back to missouri in 96


   my 69 changer and my 69 road runner (high school car)were both made in that plant also

[vancamp]

sad site indeed.

[Daytona R/T SE]

All six of my Chargers were built there...

[69CoronetRT]

What a shame. Was the also the St.Louis plant in the 60s/70s?

all b body converts were made in fenton

I'm sorry to see that.

(B body convertible production at STL was from 67-70. 1965 and 1966 B body convertibles were produced at other plants.)

[69CoronetRT]

What a shame. Was the also the St.Louis plant in the 60s/70s?

all b body converts were made in fenton

the birdible was built there and then sent off to long island new york , then i brought it back to missouri in 96


   my 69 changer and my 69 road runner (high school car)were both made in that plant also

LOL...I just realized something...

The picture at the Casey's was taken when you stopped in Clear Lake. I was at the Taco Bell next door when you pulled out.

[moparstuart]

 that was mason city  ?  we stopped there twice going up and coming back .  If you were around you should have come and said hello .


We ate at the wendy just behind there .

[GN]

One plant is shutdown, it made the minivan. Production was moved to Canada. The other is idle and might be shut down. It makes the Ram trucks. Yes, this was the plant that was the "G" code on the cars. The plant I belive has been around since the early 60s. All those people out of work.

[Ghoste]

Production wasn't really "moved" to Canada as they had been building them in Windsor all along, it's more a case of production was retained in Windsor when St. L. van was closed.  They are currently running well below capacity in Windsor too.  In any case, it seems like any city in (in North America) with an auto plant has people out of work right now either through layoffs or closures.  Not good.

[Fitz73Chrgr]

I've heard the Ram plant is to be shut for good as well.

My '73 was also built there, was sold at a dealership in Alabama at some time, and is now just a few miles from its birthplace. 

[69*F5*SE]

That's where my Charger was built too in St. Louis.  So, that's the plant eh.  That's wild. Ashame it's shut down though.

[hemigeno]

The first plant opened in 1959, not sure when the second/truck plant opened.  There are a ton of families that live around me who relocated to this area when the plant opened.  I usually go by there a couple times a week (used to be twice a day).

My Hemi R/T was made there, and it was kinda cool to take it back inside the plant to the final assembly line in 2004.  I know a few other guys (Stuart) have had their cars inside the plant on that same line too.  Very cool, and it's definitely a shame to see that place empty.  I have no idea what it will be 5-10 years from now, but something tells me they won't be making cars, vans or trucks there anymore.

[moparstuart]

The first plant opened in 1959, not sure when the second/truck plant opened.  There are a ton of families that live around me who relocated to this area when the plant opened.  I usually go by there a couple times a week (used to be twice a day).

My Hemi R/T was made there, and it was kinda cool to take it back inside the plant to the final assembly line in 2004.  I know a few other guys (Stuart) have had their cars inside the plant on that same line too.  Very cool, and it's definitely a shame to see that place empty.  I have no idea what it will be 5-10 years from now, but something tells me they won't be making cars, vans or trucks there anymore.

Yes the family employee days were great parking your car right on the line it was built on . We did it in 04 and i think 99 ??  Anyway my family did have our 69 runner in the plant twice and it was a blast .  Sad sad sad .   

[mopar0166]

thats crappy!

[69CoronetRT]

that was mason city  ?  we stopped there twice going up and coming back .  If you were around you should have come and said hello .

It's the Mason City exit but you were in the town of Clear Lake. In fact, you were only about a mile from the Surf Ballroom of Buddy Holly fame.

I was pulling out of the TB as you were leaving the Casey's and getting on to the Interstate.

[moparstuart]

that was mason city  ?  we stopped there twice going up and coming back .  If you were around you should have come and said hello .

It's the Mason City exit but you were in the town of Clear Lake. In fact, you were only about a mile from the Surf Ballroom of Buddy Holly fame.

I was pulling out of the TB as you were leaving the Casey's and getting on to the Interstate.

        I cant hide from no one   

[PocketThunder]

The first plant opened in 1959, not sure when the second/truck plant opened.  There are a ton of families that live around me who relocated to this area when the plant opened.  I usually go by there a couple times a week (used to be twice a day).

My Hemi R/T was made there, and it was kinda cool to take it back inside the plant to the final assembly line in 2004.  I know a few other guys (Stuart) have had their cars inside the plant on that same line too.  Very cool, and it's definitely a shame to see that place empty.  I have no idea what it will be 5-10 years from now, but something tells me they won't be making cars, vans or trucks there anymore.

Yes the family employee days were great parking your car right on the line it was built on . We did it in 04 and i think 99 ??  Anyway my family did have our 69 runner in the plant twice and it was a blast .  Sad sad sad .   

Were you able to take any pictures of it inside the plant?  I suppose not?

[moparstuart]

i did but have no idea where the hell they are now ?  some album at home somewhere . I'll look ?


   Long before I was digital

[tan top]

good but sad pictures  !! thanks for sharing

[41husk]

Maybe they can build some Fiats there in the future.  We need something for all the out of work csr makers.  The steel mill in my town closed aroung Christmas rumar has it they will start producing steel again before the winter hits.  Times are tough here in the midwest.

[hemigeno]

   Long before I was digital

Same for me, unfortunately. 

My kids and wife had the best time going through the plant, and it didn't hurt having our own personal tour guide in Rich Bolzenius (he worked there until retiring a little over a year ago).  Fascinating stuff, and several of the structures inside the plant were there "back in the day", like the test run "box" and water test room.  The old timers all said the whole plant could hear when they'd fire up a Hemicar in the test run area...   

There's all kinds of stories from the workers back then about drag races on the back parking lot, accidentally wrecked cars from the parking lot races being cut up, parts and entire engines being hauled out covered up in someone's van, etc.  One of my favorite stories was of the "Matchbox races" they had...  They'd take a mostly assembled 4-speed HiPo car (440, Hemi, whatever) and put a matchbox car in front of the front wheels.  The line worker would get behind the wheel, start and rev the engine, then pop the clutch in an attempt to get the car to hop over the matchbox car.  Sounded like a lot of fun to me!