Full line of Ford cars being built

Inside the Ford plant we see the full line of Ford cars being built. Welding, glass installed, painted and ready to roll out to the dealers. We would love any help in getting positive ID for the factory. We thought it was the Rouge but the cars don't seem to be the ones that were built there.
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[@ErrlinP]

BEING THE SON OF AN AUTOWORKER ( Oakland 73 ave. General Motors ) brought back great memories. Thanks

[@KingRoseArchives]

Errlin Macedo Jr Thanks for watching.

[@68lincoln]

Wow! Look at all those beautiful 1973 Fords. My parents had a 1973 Ford LTD Brougham 2 dr hardtop in brown with the beige vinyl roof much like the one seen in this film. We loved that car. It was very dependable and quite luxurious.

[@bk14nyc]

They are showing both 1972 and 1973 Fords

[@luisrangel1567]

I have a 1973 LTD and it's serial number it says it was assembled in mexico...

[@luisrangel1567]

Probably it was like October 1972 when they shot this video. Cuz show both 1972 & 1973

[@bobtis]

Lot of hand welding

[@tyroniousyrownshoolacez2347]

The amount of time spent mixing the audio is mind boggling! Thank you 1916 sound engineers.

[@michaelcuff5780]

Old LTDs i remember them like it was yesterday! Lol!

[@TyyeahBStoo]

That's when car's where made out of real steel👍👍

[@buckyflywoodie3905]

Simply amazing, I've been a car guy all my life and I've always been amazed at the automobile industry from design through sales, who in the heck is buying all those cars! It's just mind-boggling and how quickly they can make them and they were pretty decent when they were new. But wow, what an amazing industry. They make it look so easy! I remember those days when I was working as a welder @ $13 an hour thinking about those guys on the assembly line making $30/hr, approximately ,with benefits, and I thought to myself, we got a problem here and sure enough look at the price of cars. .

[@alexsmith-ob3lu]

Wow! Such well preserved piece of history! Thank you for sharing! This old film also looks very inspiring too!

[@OlBlueshound]

I love seeing this insight into where our cars were "born". Even being a spray painter in the crash repair industry & knowing how cars are built, this video really gives an appreciation of just how much effort & care went into building these cars. I love the old school cars, all years, but especially the 60's & 70's classics. I'll keep mine till I die. I don't EVER want a new car, I know they do the job but they have no soul, no character, no cool. And my 60's Fords will do what they were built to for the next 50 years no problem. And BY THE WAY, what's with the Black cars everybody "must have" now days? Bad colour on a car plus it hides the shape & body lines? They're just more sheep in the flock!

[@mgonzales56]

Hey!!!..I bought a new black 1979 Trans Am and I love my car. Everyone has their favorite color. Actually, I had ordered a dark blue Z28, but after waiting 4 months for it, the Chevy dealer got their hands on a new WS6 Trans Am with the 400 Pontiac engine. It had the 4 speed and t-tops that I had ordered on my Camaro, so I bought it. I still have it...going on 44 years, and I still love it.

[@Mynamesalexa]

My father built most of those fixtures and welding machines for the Ford Granada. He was a tool & die maker @ The Budd Company 1954 to 1991 I worked there also & Trailmobile as a Die Setter/Heavy Equipment Operator.

[@Johnnycdrums]

The jigs and fixturing is out of this world.

[@Fireship1]

I had a 1977 Granada. Had an inline 250 CID 6 cylinder and a Jatco automatic transmission. Easy to work on and reliable as hell!

[@kristopherdetar3552]

@@Fireship1my Uncle George in California bought a new Granada in 1978 in California. Put 220,000 miles on it and it only ever needed oil changes, brakes, tires and car washes. Best damn car he ever owned.

[@ddellwo]

That, my friends, is a hard way to make a living!

[@gordonvincent731]

My first car was a new 1973 Ford Gran Torino. Bought it through Ford military sales, Subic Naval Base,PI. March 1973. Picked it up after my WESTPAC cruise was over. Picked it up at now gone Skyway Ford, Manchester Blvd. LA. It was pastel green with the 302 ci V8, power steering, power disc brakes,AM radio, no AC. Came in at $3470.75.

[@Mark-xh9ne]

I drove a 73 LTD for many years. It was funny that no body panel lined up and yet the car was as watertight and solid as any I have ever owned. Hated driving the thing but it was durable and reliable.

[@grayfox4554]

I think it's Atlanta. Fairlanes were built in Atlanta but there were Mustangs in that lot too. A friend of mine in Atl has a 67 Fairlane that was built in Atl and has spent its entire life no more than 30 miles from the factory. Cool.

[@ultimafuelie]

"Ford Motor Company - A Quinn Martin Production!"

[@Wildstar40]

+ultimafuelie ... LOL !

[@bk14nyc]

Cannon

[@scottenser464]

I saw what you did there . Was thinking the same thing

[@sooverit5529]

"The Streets of San Francisco" "A Q-M Production"

[@dynodon8592]

Some 72's & 73.s. Uncovered rail cars and lots of LTD's and Galaxies. Great video.

[@SuperWatson63]

I lived in my 1st car I bought for 200 in 1979, a 69 Ltd country squire wagon with a 390. During hurricane David. No power for 2 weeks. Had a.c. and fm courtesy of an fm converter. Who remembers those good Times.

[@thomasmelnick9140]

Yes! I installed one. Just one.

[@ImmortalitySucks.]

Nice video, my online school had me watch this for a industrial revolution assignment a while back, and we would have to compare it to robots automatticly making cars which was fascinating how people managed to have robots make cars in mere seconds or minutes. Its also fascinating to see how fast cars can be built normally and to see what is in them!

[@sonyhandycam520]

With the crap that passes for new cars in 2015. I would gladly love to go back to 1971-1972, and drive one of these beauty's out of the show room. Because even in 71-72 you could still work your car yourself you didn't need to run to the mechanic to put a light bulb in or use some high price code reader to tell him you've got a loose gas cap or oil filler cap making the check engine light come on. Plus I've thought gauges were better than idiot lights.

[@leghunter61]

this was "Wayne Assembly Plant" Wayne MI. which wa next to the Truck Plant on Michigan Ave.(US 112)

[@epasternak4206]

My Dad worked at the plant at this time.

[@Canadasvt]

Not the twin cities Minnesota plant?

[@deanmoore1752]

72s and 73s. very nice. thanks for sharing this.

[@KingRoseArchives]

Thanks for watching!

[@RighteousBastard5150]

Very nice thanks for sharing 🤙🏻

[@Sacapuntas69]

Wow, workers actually lifting heavy items, moving heavy machinery around!!!

[@jpolar394]

It kind of reminds me of the old Metuchen assembly plant in the late 70s where they built the Pintos and the Bobcats.

[@chriswright2250]

My parents 72 country Squire was built there. Great car.

[@fleetwin1]

It always amazed me that the cars didn't get scratched up during assembly and driving around the plant/trucks/trains

[@David-ik8wj]

wow got to see the birthplace of our family 72 LTD Coupe. We traded it in on a Datsun B-210. The fuel embargo killed the demand for those beauties.

[@danielkidder1403]

That is the assembly plant in Louisville Ky. They built the Ltd there through 77

[@Canadasvt]

Maybe. They also assembled them at OAP in Canada 🇨🇦

[@samsdad900]

I see all those cars you mention at 4:15 of the vid. shipping /dist hub?

[@dandan9175]

Can someone tell me the name of shaping metal process at 0.44sec ? Thank you

[@ThePadillaFilms]

My first guess was the old Ford Factory in Milpitas Ca. The inside and the cars made would certainly be there. The outside doesn't match parts of it. The trains tracks are still a big clue.

[@frankdebiase5739]

that was definitely a 73 ltd at the end getting its headlights adjusted at 3;02

[@jamessambets6116]

This looks like the Ford Plant on Route 17 in Mahwah, NJ

[@jonasgrumby1093]

Hea man, wanna go smoke a doobie at lunch. Na, I got high painting those cars this morning

[@clubtcb]

I've always wondered why, on both sides of the rear roofline of my classic ford there is tin filling. It's comforting to know that, apparently it was part of the production process welds rather than a roof replacement.

[@chopperking1122]

its actually hot melted lead thats wiped into the join , then filed back

[@clubtcb]

chopperking1122 Thanks, always nice to learn something ;) Guess the bodyshop wasn't exactely the healthiest place in the factory back then

[@CamAteUrKFC]

1:37 the dude with the smoke lmao badass

[@williamwilkins3084]

A lot of people did that back then.

[@Fireship1]

Robots? We don’t need no stinking robots!

[@scdevon]

I'll take a 1968 Mercury Cougar XR7 in Augusta Green with 428 Cobra Jet Ram Air, please.

[@tomnatortomnator883]

scdevon better yet, I’ll take the 427

[@edmondocerza4292]

Ford LTD's 191 looks like....love those big old boats

[@andrewpowers7034]

Can’t believe those guys were painting without masks 1:03.

[@boleynali]

I worked at Fords at Dagenham(UK) in 1977 ,so ,apart from the cars, this looks very familiar.In those days there was a strike every couple of months, so just being married, i couldn,t afford to work there as we didn,t get paid when on strike,which was often in those days.Good money when we were working , but really boring job doing the same thing all the time.

[@JBC814]

It would help if you told us what year car they're building.

[@darronmecak5720]

see that 400 swinging from the crane lol

[@politicalidiot2356]

Mahwah, New Jersey?

[@mgmlv6539]

Ain't no way in hell those painters made it to old age ...no respirators?? Jesus Christ...Their lungs must've looked like a rainbow

[@slothmag]

I was thinking the same thing when I saw that... lead based paint, no respirators, even goggles or gloves... at least they got hats so their hairdos didn't get messed up.

[@davestewart2067]

They were spraying lacquer, most likely. Had an uncle who was a design engineer for Mack trucks. Did home restoration work often without a respirator. Passed two years after retirement due to Parkinson’s likely caused by the paint inhalation.

[@davidjohnmiller4849]

Alcad Enamel

[@davidjohnmiller4849]

Alcad Enamel , no hardner no isocyanates , ya maybe a little lead in the paint

[@NitrousKick_]

@@davestewart2067 you got it! My dads car lacquer checked when we spot painted it so it was laquer based.

[@operationoverloard]

I wish those days could never leave us.

[@Canadasvt]

Oakville Assembly Plant or Louiseville?

[@googleusergp]

They were assembled at Oakville, Ontario Canada, Hapeville (Atlanta), GA, Pico Rivera (Los Angeles), CA, Mahwah, NJ, St. Paul, MN, and I want to say Chicago, IL so it could be any one of those places.

[@fairfaxcat1312]

What we have here is a soundless video production of Ford automobiles being built and shipped on trains to the buyers. The motor company was started up by Henry Ford who pioneered the assembly line mass production method of manufacturing in the Detroit Michigan area.

[@fixedgearfever69]

Damn. Love the boys in the paint line. No mask no nothing .

[@Pontiacman1964]

Yeah I was thinking the same. Crazy stupid.

[@TyyeahBStoo]

They had alot of ventaliton then

[@KingRoseArchives]

Thanks for the correction. I've been trying to sort out which factory it was and since it was with the Rouge footage I assumed. But you know what they same about assumed? I'll make the correction and ask others to see if they can help us pinpoint the location.

[@larrykirk9825]

Were ya able to get the location with all the train rails it looks like the wayne mi plant

[@kennethsouthard6042]

I wonder if you may also be seeing a consolidation facility where all Fords from that region were put together for shipment. I'm not sure if railroads did that, but maybe it somehow helped more efficiently distribute cars to dealers in different locations. For example if you had 300 cars going to Omaha some LTDs, Mustangs, Thunderbirds and Mavericks which would have came out of different plants, but all built in the Detroit area it may have made better sense to first move these cars from the plant to a staging location where all plants sent their cars then reorder the cars by destination. It would also make sense if that staging location were also located at an assembly plant as well. Given Wayne's location on the west side of the Detroit area would have made sense given that at that in the early 70s not too many people lived out there, so the massive amount of land needed for such a staging area would have been easier to aquire.

[@larrykirk9825]

Looks like Wayne not for sure but it seems like it

[@bruceburns1672]

Thank the good lord for modern assembly techniques , robot spot welders , corrosion dipping , and quality control , and car warranties .

[@davestewart2067]

Bruce Burns And boring sameness not to mention overpriced today.

[@RT060789]

I own a 72 Mustang and I have worked on many 71-73s. After 71 all Mustangs were assembled in Dearborn (in 71 some were made at the New Jersey plant). This video was stated as being from 1972. Early Mustangs were also built in the San Jose plant that was closed in the late 60s.

[@KingRoseArchives]

Could be Dearborn and they'd use a portion of the same rail line. Thanks for helping us narrow down the possibilities.

[@RT060789]

Glad to help.

[@RT060789]

I was wrong about the closing date of the San Jose plant it closed in 1984 and is now the site of a mall.

[@kennethsouthard6042]

@@RT060789 My dad worked there from 66 until it closed.

[@yossarian6799]

my research suggests that San Jose dropped the Mustang in '71 to assemble the Pinto alongside Torinos, but added the Mustang back in '72 when Metuchen switched exclusively to Pinto assembly and the Torino went body-on-frame and moved from San Jose to Oakville. Dearborn added the Maverick and Comet for '72 because the St. Thomas plant struggled to meet the overwhelming demand for both Pinto and Maverick and poor sales of the midsize 'stang left plenty of room on the Dearborn line.

[@tomservo56954]

These are 1972 models being built, and 1973s being loaded.

[@onlyweknow2]

Agreed.

[@Giggidygiggidy12]

This was great to watch, although the build quality and materisls used seem absolutely terrible at best. No wonder these cars would deteriorate so quickly over time

[@darronmecak5720]

now thats a car

[@reddrw1]

Hey. One of those might be my 72 LTD..

[@0001943]

They used to say if you could watch your car being built you wouldn't want it!

[@tangoandcars9588]

You just cannot duplicate the smell of an old car.

[@MustangGuru]

Back then transporting by rail was not an issue for paint due to rail dust, The paint was enamel. Today’s paint rail dust penetrates the soft paint of today. And hard to get out.

[@dandan9175]

What's that process called again at 0:40?

[@DavidBugea]

Dino Manta Leading...it’s lead filler. Nowadays an epoxy filler such as Bondo would be used.

[@ericwhitehead6451]

Wonder how many of those cars exist. One percent? Half a percent?

[@nevetslegasi5686]

I think thats Louisville KY

[@luisalvarez23]

Mostly 1972 LTD s but some clips of 1973 cars too

[@luisrangel1567]

Somebody knows where this video was shot???

[@robbieeades1956]

Louisville Kentucky.

[@tomgallagher1080]

❤️

[@jinglejazz7537]

I miss the big boats.

[@jhaymanmyles2226]

Straight from the factory to the junkyard

[@larrykirk9825]

I'm a 4th generation autoworker im at chrysler my dad grandpa and great grandpa were all ford Rouge workers my 3 brothers are also 1 gm 1 ford and 1 chrysler like me I work in repair now but I remember sweating down to my pants and formans yelling to not to stop the line for any reason on those July and August months working on the assembly line we make a good living and good benefits but you earn every penny they don't give it to ya lol

[@carltonmasteur1]

Mahwah NJ plant?

[@thomasmelnick9140]

I want to agree but did Mahawah have those tanks? I definitely saw the erie auto loaders.

[@crackboompow]

Tough work back then

[@KingRoseArchives]

+crackboompow bam And there were plenty of jobs to go around. If you wanted to work you could. A high school education was all it took and you were your way to joining the middle class. The American Dream.

[@crackboompow]

King Rose Archives That was a wee bit before my time but good times for that generation for sure.

[@TheRealReasonNASB]

Crazy those painters at 1:12 not even wearing masks ...

[@JamesBond-pb2qy]

LTD ?

[@sonyhandycam520]

I'm 38 and when I see old episode of CHiPs etc. It just make me sick all the decent cars they destroyed making the crash scenes regardless of make they were some damn nice cars destroyed in those episodes. Just finished watching Walking Tall Pt 2, and I would love to have a dollar for every 1975 Chevrolet Impala Caprice they wrecked making that movie. I say that even though 75 in car terms was a lousy year smog emissions that caused lousy performance. Also the the year they came out with the catalytic converter so you'd have to use unleaded gasoline. But when I see a new car I can't tell if it's foreign or domestic, they all look like a bubble in a piss pot and I'm only 38 and came of age during the 80's when badge engineering was at it's height. I told my dad who'll be 73 this July I was born in the wrong time. How I've wanted to go back to the 50's and be able to buy a new 57 Chevy Ford Plymouth whatever. My dad's acts like he's going to get sick and tell him how I would love to have been able to buy either a 1959-1960 Chevrolet Impala 4Dr when they came out, and he always says I had a taste for shit and this coming from a die hard Chevy man he just thought much of the 59's or 60's, he didn't like the bat wing fins on the 59's and the 60's weren't that much better. His Chevy's that he owned was his first a green with white roof 210 Del ray Club Coupe, 1958 Biscayne 2 Dr that was an Ex Pa state liquor control board car, the best of all his 1961 Impala Convertible with a 348 with three deuces posi traction rear, he bought form a classmate of his when he traded it in 1964 at The Westminster Motor Co Westminster Md when his friend took delivery of 1964 Chevy Impala SS 340/409 triple black hardtop. His classsmate bought the 61 new and the final sticker with options was over $4000, my dad said that was a lot to spend for a Chevy in 61. I told my dad that if Wayne would have gotten the 409 and the SS package he would had the one of the only 142 Impala convertibles with the 409 SS package made in 61, so some of you may what happen to all these nice Chevy's well my dad traded the 55 on the 58, traded the 58 on the 61 which he kept till 1974 then sold it to guy in the Westminster Fire Dept. You say why in the hell didn't he keepit my dad always says that but in 1974 a 61 Chevy was just a 13 yr old used car and with the 348 and the first gas crunch a gas hog. But the third owner wound up selling the 61 back to Wayne who put in storage never fixing up the things that go bad with cars over the years. Then Wayne came down with cancer in the late 80's and sold the 61 to a local body shop owner who promised to put it back to the way he drove it out of the showroom. But Wayne never saw this he died from cancer in 1992 he was only 50 when he passed. Finis

[@KingRoseArchives]

sonyhandycam520 Thanks for sharing your story.

[@jrg7951]

Rockford Files and Columbo episodes are full of muscle

[@actiniumanarchy9237]

1:12 isn’t that a cougar on the far right

[@robertpersall1485]

Dreambro1, It is plainly obvious that you have never worked at an automotive assembly plant. Lots of jobs that are NOT push button and you hurt every day when you leave. I worked at the Claycomo, Missouri plant for 12 years, I know about that which I speak!

[@ms.annthrope415]

Just about everything done by hand are now done by robotics. Welding, painting, gluing, soldering, etc. Quality went up, no more strikes, over time, consistent performance, no sick calls, no monday/sednesday/friday builds where the auto worker came in stoned, drunk, hung over, and just plain unhappy and decided to spot weld the ashtry or dropping a bolt in the rocker panel to rattle forever. Ford/FM/chrysler wouldn't invest money into QC and robotics until thr Japanese cars were eating their lunch. It was only when they were losing hundreds of millions did they clmaped down and did better. They had to. In the long run, it helped everyone.

[@Em6726]

Wow

[@nw8000]

Why does my car not go back together this quick??

[@ChrisThomas-tz8jr]

I was thinking the same thing...

[@monarch1957]

oks like several years ago maybe 71 0r 72 Fords.

[@lowd747]

Where's Rusty Jones?

[@JamesBond-pb2qy]

looks like the wreckig yard in Texas Now

[@Jgeneraledger23]

Amazing how fast these cars were made; almost like watching somebody do a magic-trick.

[@ironwill8596]

Back when cars were made by hand with 10% robot help

[@luisalvarez23]

I saw both 72 and 73models

[@MadsWorld34]

no sound

[@joelucio3490]

all that history they all until the American people they work so hard for

[@robneville5728]

I see '73 LTDs.

[@mgee6331]

back in the days when robots and quality didnt exist

[@socalltd]

8 plants made LTD's in the 70's. Los Angeles, St. Paul, Oakville, Chicago, Wayne, Mahwah, Louisville and Norfolk. for this footage I would say Chicago or Wayne for its distribution of the other models and large train hub. Its not LA, I would recognize it.

[@austinkunc6614]

It is probably the Lorain ford plant giving the fact you can see the lake in the background

[@socalltd]

@@austinkunc6614 Good to know as much as possible. I forgot to mention Lorain, H code in the VIN.

[@Merseysiderful]

The Unions should have insisted Ford provided safety respirators in the paint shop.

[@Pontiacman1964]

Not much has changed I see in building Fords between the 30's and the late 60's, early 70's. General Motors was a lot different.

[@Giggidygiggidy12]

Seeing those paint sprayers and no masks or respirators 💀☠️ Where's OSHA 😂

[@paulpeck6076]

3 Police cars at 1:14?

[@robbieeades1956]

Yep, I saw the black and white.

[@simplyconnected]

During the 1970's, the Rouge Area (which consisted of 17 plants) made four car lines in Dearborn Assembly Plant; Mustang, Cougar, Maverick, and Comet. All of these cars were uni-body construction. I'm looking at LTD's which were made in LA,, St. Louis and Oakville Assembly, in Ontario, Canada. You have good Ford footage but unfortunately, this video is not The Rouge.

[@davestewart2067]

simplyconnected Galaxies / LTD was body on frame at least 68 to the end in 2011. Cougar was body on frame 74-79.

[@kennethsouthard6042]

I'm thinking they used Wayne for a staging area for all plants from this region.

[@kevinowen8155]

1974 Ford LTD's.

[@kenns9]

its a mix mass of 71-73 cars.

[@ak3617]

no masks while painting?

[@KingRoseArchives]

Aaron Kark We don't need no stinkin' masks. But do need an oxygen bottle in later years.

[@ak3617]

lol

[@critchley3819]

Aaron Kark These poor workers are probably all dead..

[@herrgolf]

+brian critchley Surprised the union didn't help with this.

[@MarineAqua45]

herrgolf A lot of union reps in the USA & in the UK used to smoke & drink to excess themselves at this time & they didn’t know about health risks, etc. Guys at the Metro-Cammell Weymann factory in England used to line electric-locomotives with Asbestos, without wearing masks & it wasn’t until some of them were dropping dead or near dead, the policies changed in Britain. A lot of guys of this era used to work their balls off, smoke, drink, etc & they had short lives.

[@Aero.Smith.]

When America was great and the people too

[@luisalvarez23]

72 models

[@tonychavez2083]

Mahwah NJ plant

[@ErrlinP]

Gotta say this...once a year the families would get to tour the plant. Still have a couple of promotional coins given out at that time. One coin the GM motorama of 1954. The other coin comemerating the 50th million car built. In 1964 the plant moved to Fremont Ca. At the time this was the most militant unionized plant in America. Fights and battles between worker and management on and off picket lines common. I thought at the time my dad was on vacation alot, with two week stretches at a time. When he passed, his union bretheren filled me in and things made sense. Work suspensions for 2 weeks for standing up and fighting (knocking out )cruel supervisors . Management hired members of the revolutionary communist party, (rcp) to agitate and fight the pickets during a strike. Violent battles. Something that would not be tolerated now by either side. Bigone days!!!

[@KingRoseArchives]

Errlin Macedo Jr Fascinating. Thanks for sharing your insight into how things used to run. Fighting organized labor instead of working as a team is one the reasons the Big 3 lost their way.

[@6wille]

+King Rose Archives unionized labor was working as a team?? news to me. One place I worked for 28 years, they routinely opposed *anything* coming from management whether it was good for "the workers" or not. The typical workers were pretty good but the union execs had their own agenda.

[@roadmaster720]

UAW united ass wipes no union worth a shit. righ to work state better.