The VW Westmoreland Factory - the first USA VWs..!

[@vwestlife]

Right before the factory closed there was a brief production run of 1989 models. I had a Westmoreland-built 1989 Golf and it was a pain to get parts for it because the Westmoreland cars had a completely different electrical system than the 1989 Mexican-built Golfs. I usually had to lie and say it was a 1988 model in order to get the right part for it. The tooling for the Westmoreland-built Mk2 Jetta got shipped over to China and it remained in production over there (with many facelifts) all the way until 2014. Factory workers remember seeing representatives from China touring the plant before it closed. I've also heard stories that the workers had a habit of stealing parts, and for years after the plant closed, yard sales in the area were full of people selling the stolen VW parts for cheap.

[@JamieOrr]

Agreed on the tooling going to FAW in China; the Mk2 Jetta and B2 Passat (Santana) over there is a future story for sure!

[@kevinwong6588]

That would have to be a very early 1989 model, since Westmoreland closed down in July 1988. Since the 1956 Beetle (August 1955), VW always began model years in August.The most logical explanation is that the plant was due to close and with so much leftover inventory (parts and incomplete bodies on the assembly line), it was simply decided to build some '89s to finish off and close out the stock.

[@x-man4702]

@@kevinwong6588 Good info, thanks for sharing!

[@x-man4702]

@@JamieOrr Subscribed! Looking forward to seeing the FAW China story!

[@Embargoman]

To say the least the only VW factory that exist nowadays is in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

[@clairephillips44]

I'm proud to say I am a daughter of one of those workers my mother Ellen Lancaster work 10 years in the paint department I actually have a paint chip that they chipped off the carriages that would put the cars into the paint

[@blainestanziana8426]

I worked at VW Westmoreland I drove the first GTI In the United States i took it home from the plant more than a year before they were introduced. I also have a 90 minute video of the entire assembly plant fully narrated dedicated to me. I have VW playing cards never opened,VW ash trays ink pens I have slides of the plant and many many pictures

[@jimf1795]

Upload that video to youtube! Would love to see it!

[@twbrock4289]

Did you know William B. Brock The MOST prominent Black Executive at The VW of America Was Murdered and it's being Covered-up, the New York Times say's he committed Suicide hour's after joining the $70,000,000.00 Million dollar Class Action Discrimination lawsuit against VW. How they fail to mention that Mr. Brock was LEFT HANDED, shot in the BACK of the RIGHT side of his HEAD or that just 10 days prior to his death he had a family meeting about an approval for a $9,000,000.00 million venture to purchase a Hilton Hotel and when pressed by his family to leave VW immediately because of the DEATH THREATS on His Life He said "l can't because, I've got people counting on me." Or that on the Day of the alleged suicide he told friends that he was selling his Audi because he just bought a Porsche and he see them at the meeting on Monday.

[@blainestanziana8426]

I knew Bill Brock but can't remember the story you are talking about

[@fiatofgreenville]

Thanks Jamie for the video! I grew up in the Pittsburgh area and went to college at Univ of Pittsburgh Greensburg campus. During that time I worked for a construction fastener supply company and remember taking kegs of 20,000 1/4 inch hex nuts, washers and several size bolts out to the factory in the very beginning when they started the assembly. It was just a shell building with a dirt floor like you say and I believe it had a blue band across the top as a former Chrysler building. Years later I bought a 1983 Volkswagen rabbit GTI one of my most favorite cars ever. Black with a blue interior and sunroof it was a very special car that I wish I had kept..

[@bikesloth]

Rad to hear this VW history! My dad still has a 97 VW Trek bike.

[@JamieOrr]

Thanks, that's awesome on the bike!

[@boostaddict_]

@@JamieOrr Someone I know by proxy is converting their Jetta into a Trek edition using the parts from a car my buddy found, and he just picked up a matching Trek frame to go with it. Can't wait to see it done

[@alanburke76]

Fascinating story of the history of that plant, thank you!

[@3duckit]

I just picked up a 1985 golf made in Pa. 124k miles and almost no rust. So much original but need work. Lol. Love this video!!!!! Thank you.

[@alejandrotorres5659]

Great story Jamie! I work at the VW factory in Mexico and I'm a big nerd too for these VW stories. In the MX factory you could walk into some parts of the factory and see the roof, still with the old "triangle" roof shape. That's how you know it's an old part from the building. It's great to imagine all the cars that were made there. P.S. we still use that little tool to measure gaps, it's a little different and we call it "estrella" wich means "star" in Spanish.

[@Charles_Mulberry_7977]

I owned an 83 and a 84 GTI from Westmoreland.

[@djg3996]

I had a 83 GTI. Loved that car.

[@mikewhipkey6863]

I used to work for an electric transformer company in Scottdale Pennsylvania and 12 of the 40+ Employees worked at the Volkswagen plant

[@taylavlogsthetas4784]

I drove through the parking lot in 2013. I need to get my '81 back on the road to go visit its birth place... I cut off a 84 core support to ship to a fella in the UK, super proud there will be some square headlights running around abroad.

[@neonsigns6721]

Cool video! There is alot of sordid stories around that place, it's nice to preserve this pice of PA history.

[@mikesvirtualgarage9917]

When I saw the title I was sure Morgan (or the Captain, as we called him before he moved back to PA) was part of it. Having spent time with him for a while, a lot of us loved his stories and of course, unique styling traits for cars. I absolutely loved this and am happy Morgan's treasures and story are here!

[@badrabbithabit]

That’s my rabbit @9:57! From the ebay ad, years ago. Now it looks a bit different.

[@YSN]

Holy crap, I've got two Westmoreland made Sony TVs in the house and I didn't even know! This was such an interesting video and I'm glad you're making this sort of video to preserve the history. BTW, I found your channel, because I noticed your orange Fox on a random video that KZbin recommended to me. I used to lurk the Fox forum on VWVortex when I was in high school in the mid 2000s, so I instantly recognized it!

[@vwbr3nt]

What an epic video Jamie. Thank you for all of this amazing information. Love watching your videos

[@Aucourant347]

I love these videos the wheel one now this... WOW. Content like this is what make KZbin great.

[@JamieOrr]

Thank you so much!!

[@jasonbeatty9567]

I visit this plant a few times every month for work.

[@JamieOrr]

How do you like it ? I love the story behind this factory ❤️

[@jasonbeatty9567]

@@JamieOrr story is great. One thing of note, the workers for Sony smashed every production record the company set, and they still moved it to Mexico.

[@HambertHM]

Absolutely loved this episode!! Thanks to share this with the world, it's gold. I love nerding about the small facts and history. That feeling when you showed the bike being shown in the VHS sitting right there, I know it very well!! Hehe

[@JamieOrr]

Glad you enjoyed it, thank you!

[@gareth1991]

Absolutely love your videos so wish they were longer lol. Would be amazing to look through your collection 😍

[@maxnaidoo2152]

Man, I love to see your vids. You're just so passionate about VW's. I love VW's, but man you're on another level. You are an encyclopedia of VW, getting knowledge from everywhere and pouring it on us. Would love to meet you when you visit South Africa again. Big Ups. Such a huge fan. And YES, I'd like to see you do a vid on the VHS tapes!

[@davidraezer5937]

Continue to geek out. Love the history. Were the first 100 Westmoreland Rabbits retail units or preproduction prototypes?

[@pebjr6621]

I enjoyed the VW nerd stuff, so please keep them coming. Loved the video!

[@klubstompers]

Im a huge Glen Plake, and VW fan, how have i never seen that commercial?

[@RedSunrise91]

This may be nerdy, but i love it!

[@JamieOrr]

I’m so glad! I honestly didn’t know it was okay to express my nerdiness! :-)

[@RedSunrise91]

@@JamieOrr I'm not even a real Volkswagen nerd but this was so cool to learn some history!

[@augustolpr9567]

As a video uploaded on the date of my birthday, I take this as a gift, I discovered your channel just a few days ago and can´t stop watching it, please keep making content! Greetings from Argentina.

[@vwecco1]

Thanks Jamie. 👍👍

[@ThatIndigoStoner]

Man this video was SOOOOOOO COOOOOOOL! 💯🙌....Missing my Velociti now.. lol!

[@JamieOrr]

Thank you

[@Nationalminer84]

Awesome video. Thanks for not getting into bashing the workers for the demise of the plant like most do.

[@paulbagdon5644]

This is pretty cool the plant is like 3 miles from my house I used to drive past it all the time never realized what it was that’s awesome

[@bigdane87]

Such a cool vid man. Very solid geek out sesh!

[@geothon]

Great video! 1983 Jetta with 1.8L GX motor out of GTI was my first car.

[@grumpydevildog1462]

I have a hand made level tool for adjusting sun roofs, (I still use it) and a coffee mug from Westmoreland. Great video Jamie

[@benjaminhofmann113]

Hey. Your Videos here are so cool. Very nice. Und dein Deutsch war goooood 😂👌🏻🤙🏻

[@danielklinner8522]

Hi Jamie, actually just watched this and the background is super interesting, what I did wonder though is, where did all the panel presses etc go? Volkswagen is known for leaving them behind for logistics reasons.

[@DaBentley22]

Awesome video! Truly fascinating stuff you have, keep up the great work!!!

[@JamieOrr]

Thank you very much!

[@motoknob2131]

Awesome man! Thanks for that 👌👌👌

[@JamieOrr]

Thanks!

[@DougsCars]

Very interesting, very cool!

[@knitaesthetic2549]

Long live the Westmoreland rabbit!

[@JamieOrr]

Agreed!

[@JunkVWs]

Awesome history 👍

[@eur0mess]

Awesome information dood thanks 🤙🏼

[@nicu7014]

This is absolutely amazing, awesome story man, thanks for sharing! I've seen one mk2 with a westmoreland frontend conversion, very rare here in europe. What's up with that 6n harlequin from the background?

[@guslima340]

Great history Jamie! Does that very first Rabbit still exist?

[@flori5548]

Bought alternative Rock CD’s 😂 Awesome video 😎

[@JamieOrr]

Thanks Fabian!

[@acefighterpilot]

I need that VR6 VHS!

[@Charles_Mulberry_7977]

I have a 97 K2 with the snowboard but never got the snow globe!

[@vwphred]

I too am a VW nerd having driven VW's for forty years having each model and series. Interesting to hear your views on the Westmoreland plant. Back in 1983 I ordered a Rabbit that took six months to arrive at the dealer. The first one built for me fell off the shipping rail car at the plant. The second one that I finally got was the worst VW I ever owned. The engine was installed backwards (!), the doors had to be removed and rewelded because the welds didn't match. The Westmoreland plant was constantly down due to wildcat strikes. Theft was rampant. I cheered when VW closed the plant. It was stain on VW history that few will shed a tear. It is why today I will not buy an american built vehicle

[@antoniot701]

how did you even find those bikes i whant one so bad

[@brianfloster2609]

Someone should send Tesla one of this panel gap tools am I right?? Love your videos Jamie - keep up with the VW nerdery!

[@robbflynn4325]

I live pretty close to this location and driven through New Stanton countless times. My mum used to work for a VW dealership in upstate New York back in the late 80's, she could have got me a great discount on a VW but I always thought they were overpriced compared to domestic brands and not worth the extra.

[@JamieOrr]

Dang that’s cool ! Should have let her get you a nice deal 😅❤️❤️❤️

[@bluetoes591]

Jamie, the USA allowed composite beam headlamps starting in 1984, so that's not why the early Westmoreland Golfs had the rectangular sealed beams. There has to be another explanation. Love this nerdiest, of nerdy videos though.

[@stevenmaginnis1965]

Volkswagen of America tried to market the Golf and the GTI as two separate models rather than market the Golf as one model with the GTI being a performance package, much like Pontiac sold the LeMans and the GTO as separate models even though they were essentially the same apart from performance. So VW used sealed-beam headlights for the base Golf and composite lights for the GTI. That was done for 1985 and 1986, but when the Fox debuted for 1987, VW decided to take the base Golf a bit upmarket and gave it composite lights like the GTI. So there's your explanation, @bluetoes591 .

[@stevenmaginnis1965]

Rabbits made from 1978 to 1982 were Americanized and made to drive and feel like Chevrolets. Any Rabbit or Golf made after that is decent. But the Malibu-ing of the car was the automotive equivalent of literally watering down Lowenbrau beer when they started brewing it in Texas.

[@ThePuroNR]

Wow

[@garrettbemis3508]

Yes please, more VW nerd stuff!

[@davidwright5280]

Jamie, I bought a new 1988 golf made at Westmoreland. $10000. 100HP.

[@fernandomenezesbara4530]

Showww de video legal di mais!!!!!!!

[@JamieOrr]

Obrigado!!

[@Embargoman]

To say Volkswagens are made in the US but most of them are now built in Chattanooga, Tennessee, to say all that airplanes might be built but Airbus didn’t make planes in Westmorland they choose Mobile, Alabama. It is kind of cool that Sony open up in Westmorland as the first LCD TVs came from their but now I see Siemens to what could be extent to what is going to be their. Probably Kenmore or to say the least if Panasonic buys the Kenmore brand, or a Chinese company like Hisense or TCL to build TVs in Westmorland or something probably Samsung or LG. I will say something will come to say Sharp plan to make TVs in Wisconsin as Foxconn now owns Sharp. Kind of tricky to say if appliances where to be manufacture in Westmorland is not going to be Whirlpool but a Korean manufacture called Samsung. Now let’s see how it goes then probably batteries or Kenmore by Panasonic.

[@PeteTW2019]

I have a 84 GTI from there.

[@V10PDTDI]

Jamie we could be really good friends by looking at what you like and your passion for Volkswagen memorabilia I have a good collection of VW Training VHS tapes and brochures for the 90's I have what I assume what is pretty rare is the Corrado G60 dealer information booklet I can show you what it looks like maybe U seen one before.

[@420somewhereG]

👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

[@geothon]

14:24 it was called Circuit City, not Circus. LOL

[@bluewater4]

Rambling all over the place. Be concise and focus! Didn't have the patience to fully watch. In the pieces that I did view there was good information.

[@michaelc7110]

My dad worked there for Volkswagen. I worked there for Sony.... I work behind that building for Hitachi today.

[@Embargoman]

Probably it might be LG or Samsung.