Wyoming Ave plant

[PeugFra]

At Allpar there is a nice write-up on the Chrysler Wyoming Ave plant, with text and pictures of our member @Bill Watson. And in a thread of some years ago he mentioned that this plant was used to prepare CKD kits for C-body export:

So, those 348 missing cars were actually 348 K.D. cars built at the Wyoming Avenue plant (from 1937 through 1958 the DeSoto assembly plant and 1960 to 1980 for export K.D. production).

That quote is from a discussion on 1971 Polara production.

That has made me curious: Would there be information out there on production numbers, model years and destination of these CKD exports? And how would you recognize (on the fender tag or somewhere else), that a certain car was assembled from a CKD kit?

 

[1978 NYB]

I wish Mopar would of offered me a tour of the Brampton Ontario assembly plant when I bought my Redeye instead of the Bourdereat driving school. I would of enjoyed the plant tour!!!!

 

[LeBaron1973]

Can't see any photos of Bill Watson, good article if you know what state/province that plant was in.

Chrysler Historical records (whatever they're now called) may have details of the CKD kIts though it's more likely the destination plants would have (had) the information once the cars were assembled.

The data tags would have an alphabetical or numerical (or alphanumeric) code on the tag noting this car was built for export.

 

[300rag]

I wish Mopar would of offered me a tour of the Brampton Ontario assembly plant when I bought my Redeye instead of the Bourdereat driving school. I would of enjoyed the plant tour!!!!

I wish you could still get factory delivery.

 

[1978 NYB]

I wish you could still get factory delivery.

Maybe Graham could arrange something like that.

 

[300rag]

Maybe Graham could arrange something like that.

I checked into it. No can do. For the most part, dealers can't even pick up cars themselves.

 

[saforwardlook]

I wish Mopar would of offered me a tour of the Brampton Ontario assembly plant when I bought my Redeye instead of the Bourdereat driving school. I would of enjoyed the plant tour!!!!

Before I ordered my 1997 Chrysler Concorde new, I got a tour of the Brampton Assembly Plant through a good friend of mine with whom I worked with directly for several years at Chrysler and who became the chief engineer for the LX cars that were introduced in 2004 1/2 - that includes what is the current Chrysler 300, Dodge Charger, and the Magnums until the latter were discontinued to make room for the current Challengers based on the same platforms. It was an amazing tour and I marveled at how much assembly plants had changed from when I worked at Chrysler up until 1981.

If somehow, Bob, you can ever get a tour of that plant you will certainly appreciate just how production of your Challenger happened with far more robotics and much more than even when I toured Brampton in early 1997. It was just amazing how so many cars rolled off the end of the assembly lines in such short order. Just the vastness of the plant was really impressive and the storage lots seemed to never end looking into the horizon.

I will never forget that experience.

 

[1978 NYB]

Before I ordered my 1997 Chrysler Concorde new, I got a tour of the Brampton Assembly Plant through a good friend of mine with whom I worked with directly for several years at Chrysler and who became the chief engineer for the LX cars that were introduced in 2004 1/2 - that includes what is the current Chrysler 300, Dodge Charger, and the Magnums until the latter were discontinued to make room for the current Challengers based on the same platforms. It was an amazing tour and I marveled at how much assembly plants had changed from when I worked at Chrysler up until 1981.

If somehow, Bob, you can ever get a tour of that plant you will certainly appreciate just how production of your Challenger happened with far more robotics and much more than even when I toured Brampton in early 1997. It was just amazing how so many cars rolled off the end of the assembly lines in such short order. Just the vastness of the plant was really impressive and the storage lots seemed to never end looking into the horizon.

I will never forget that experience.

Thanks for sharing Steve! I bet that tour is amazing as you described. Yep, I sure would still enjoy a tour today.

When they are building Redeye's or SRT cars in general is the assembly line dedicated to those cars or are they scattered in between production of V-6 cars? Only a little over 3000 Redeye's were made in 2019. I wonder if they ran production of them all together or they were just mixed in with regular production of all Challengers.

 

[1978 NYB]

BTW Steve....

When I drive from Maryland to Wisconsin I'm driving on the Ohio Turnpike and it was (still is to me) quite impressive to drive past the GM plant in Lordstown (now closed I hear) and seeing the massive amount of cars in the parking lot. Also there was or maybe still a Chrysler plant along the Ohio Turnpike where I think they were building Neon's that might be closed now. Quite impressive and makes me proud to see automotive greatness everytime I drive by. I probably hit the accelerator a little harder after driving by those automotive plants.

I also had an opportunity to tour the Motor City in Detroit with my youngest brother before he passed and was able to cruise Woodward Ave and get a personal tour of the Chrysler Museum on the 2nd last day the museum was open to the public with my great friend Matt @detmatt. Also was privileged to see Matt's shop and all of his projects.

 

[PeugFra]

Can't see any photos of Bill Watson, ...

The first two photos on the linked page are marked © Bill Watson, so I think he took them.

The data tags would have an alphabetical or numerical (or alphanumeric) code on the tag noting this car was built for export.

You mean like this, with its "I" and "E20971":

This car was sold new in France. The plant code is still Belvidere, the only North American plant where Dodge and Plymouth C-bodies were being assembled at that time. From car ads I have seen so far Formal C-bodies must have been exported to Belgium, Finland, France and Switzerland.

 

[saforwardlook]

BTW Steve....

When I drive from Maryland to Wisconsin I'm driving on the Ohio Turnpike and it was (still is to me) quite impressive to drive past the GM plant in Lordstown (now closed I hear) and seeing the massive amount of cars in the parking lot. Also there was or maybe still a Chrysler plant along the Ohio Turnpike where I think they were building Neon's that might be closed now. Quite impressive and makes me proud to see automotive greatness everytime I drive by. I probably hit the accelerator a little harder after driving by those automotive plants.

I also had an opportunity to tour the Motor City in Detroit with my youngest brother before he passed and was able to cruise Woodward Ave and get a personal tour of the Chrysler Museum on the 2nd last day the museum was open to the public with my great friend Matt (DetMatt). Also was privileged to see Matt's shop and all of his projects.

View attachment 400843

I can not say with sureity that the Redeyes or SRTs were built along with the V-6s but that would be my guess. Even when I was at the Brampton Assembly Plant, one of the things that I noted was that a lot of preassembled components were fed into the line that included complete dash assemblies and engine/trans modules. Whether they were put together in separate parts of the plant or were brought in by large suppliers pre-assembled for the plant, I do not know. I would assume the engine assemblies including the Redeye and SRT power plants and related components such as blowers, etc were preassembled in their own specific plants and were fed into the assembly line with regular production cars, but there could have been some cars pulled off the line and taken to specialty areas for specialized and trained technicians to do such assemblies too. With the massive computerization and governance of modern plants, it is truly amazing what they can do in volume.

You Bob can definitely say you have lived a good life and toured a lot of the country at your leisure and have seen it all based your military experience and on some of your travel summaries/photos. That photo with Matt and your younger brother is great. Matt is definitely a first class guy and very helpful to me in getting my sunroof 71 Newport (shared ownership with ayilar). Great to see you three folks together in one visit!

Also, my friend at Chrysler who managed the LX series development is Burke and he also played a key role in the Chrysler Museum and maintenance of its car collection. He and I share the same enthusiasm for collector vehicles and visit and talk regularly still after we both retired.

Keep that pedal to the metal!!

 

[1978 NYB]

I can not say with sureity that the Redeyes or SRTs were built along with the V-6s but that would be my guess. Even when I was at the Brampton Assembly Plant, one of the things that I noted was that a lot of preassembled components were fed into the line that included complete dash assemblies and engine/trans modules. Whether they were put together in separate parts of the plant or were brought in by large suppliers pre-assembled for the plant, I do not know. I would assume the engine assemblies including the Redeye and SRT power plants and related components such as blowers, etc were preassembled in their own specific plants and were fed into the assembly line with regular production cars, but there could have been some cars pulled off the line and taken to specialty areas for specialized and trained technicians to do such assemblies too. With the massive computerization and governance of modern plants, it is truly amazing what they can do in volume.

You Bob can definitely say you have lived a good life and toured a lot of the country at your leisure and have seen it all based your military experience and on some of your travel summaries/photos. That photo with Matt and your younger brother is great. Matt is definitely a first class guy and very helpful to me in getting my sunroof 71 Newport (shared ownership with ayilar). Great to see you three folks together in one visit!

Also, my friend at Chrysler who managed the LX series development is Burke and he also played a key role in the Chrysler Museum and maintenance of its car collection. He and I share the same enthusiasm for collector vehicles and visit and talk regularly still after we both retired.

Keep that pedal to the metal!!

Steve, thanks for the kind words. I've been lucky to travel the U.S. and around the world and see and do things on almost a daily basis.

DetMatt's father was an official tour guide at the Chrysler Museum for many years. Yep, Matt was very hospitable to both my brother and I. I do want to go back to Detroit and see the Ford Museum.

Its great that you and your friend Burke can hang out and do car stuff together.

I have 2 Army buddies that are car nuts too. The one has the Amish built garage that is 35×60 with 14' ceiling. With a compete bathroom, compressed air, lifts, and heat.

 

[1978 NYB]

 

[1978 NYB]

 

[1978 NYB]

 

[saforwardlook]

View attachment 400874

Great garage and they can never be too big!! Excellent!

And I really like those exhaust tips/package you put on your Charger - classy!!

And you should definitely tour the Henry Ford Museum - a great experience!

 

[1978 NYB]

Great garage and they can never be too big!! Excellent!

And I really like those exhaust tips/package you put on your Challenger - classy!!

And you should definitely tour the Henry Ford Museum - a great experience!

5" tips from Carven and the diffuser came from Vicrez.

 

[saforwardlook]

5" tips from Carven and the diffuser came from Vicrez.

View attachment 400879

and I meant to say Charger of course!! Thanks!

 

[LeBaron1973]

The first two photos on the linked page are marked © Bill Watson, so I think he took them.



You mean like this, with its "I" and "E20971":

View attachment 400844

I think that's what it would be, it would give the assembly workers a guide to install export specific parts like a Kmh speedometer instead of a Mph one.

This car was sold new in France. The plant code is still Belvidere, the only North American plant where Dodge and Plymouth C-bodies were being assembled at that time. From car ads I have seen so far Formal C-bodies must have been exported to Belgium, Finland, France and Switzerland.

 

[PeugFra]

I still don't quite understand the role the North American plants played in producing cars intended for export. Member @Seb'74 has a "74 Fury Gran Sedan, 400 cid, no aircond, export specs (sold brand new in France in 1974)". The VIN is PP43M4F102323, so with an "F" for the Newark, DE plant. He never got 'round to publishing the fender tag, but if he writes "exports specs", I assume it will have the "I" code on it. That would make it a car assembled outside North America from a CKD kit prepared by the Wyoming Ave plant.

Formal C-bodies with a similar history are still around in Finland. Member @ImpJay is trying to get fender tag pics of such cars.

So how is this supposed to work? Newark assembles a car, Wyoming Ave disassembles it (knocks it down, so to speak) and ships it as a CKD kit to Europe?

Why do I ask this? Because in that case I would expect North American plant production totals to simply include export cars. It's clear that the VINs are attributed to those plants.