Open House This Week
June 12, 2012 (Tuesday)
In browsing newspapers online, I discovered an article about open house this week at the General Motors plant in Arlington. I’ve half a mind to try and go (the other half says, “remember your age and stay home”). Why would I want to go to the open house of an automobile manufacturer? Because I worked at that facility in 1955-1957, while I was a seminary student in Fort Worth. I enjoyed every minute of my employment there, where, at that time, we made Buicks, Oldsmobiles and Pontiacs. Today they make mainly sports utility vehicles, GMC, Chevrolet and Cadillac brands. The article I read says they now have a state of the art plant, which I assume means that automation is a big part of the process now. It also said they produce 1162 vehicles per day, and that means they are making 48.42 vehicles per hour, 24 hours per day. When I was there, we made 51 cars per hour, resulting in 408 cars per 8-hour shift. I would like very much to see how they operate everything there today. I’m sure it is very interesting. But it was very interesting in 1955 also, when the plant was practically brand new.
I have driven many different brands of cars through the years, most of them American made. (I wrote a blog about them, including pictures. Where an actual picture was not found, I put a photo of another car of the same model and year). I bought my first new car in 1959. It was a Chevrolet. I bought another Chevy in 1963. I had a brief encounter with a new Volkswagen Beetle in 1966, but quickly returned to a beautiful 1968 Chevy Impala station wagon. When it was wrecked, I replaced it with a new Dodge sedan. A few years later, I bought a used Chrysler New Yorker and a used Datsun sedan. After that, a new 1979 Ford Crown Victoria LTD and then a little 1981 Chevette hatchback. There were other cars — all used cars — that were parked all around our house of many drivers. In 1990, I bought a new Buick LeSabre, and then in 1994 I bought a Mercury Grand Marquis, which I still drive today, almost 18 years later. It’s an American car, but it was made in Canada. Last year, production of the Mercury line ceased once for all. The changing tastes of the American public decided that, I guess. But if anyone out there is looking for a bargain in a used car, be sure to consider a Mercury Grand Marquis. Its resale value drops quickly, but its quality is absolutely amazing. For its size, it gets good gas mileage, too. I may replace the Mercury one of these days, but I’ll never be able to complain about the service it has given me. It’s a good old friend.