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Wixom Assembly Plant ~ 1957-2007

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  • YellowRose
    Super-Experienced


    • Jan 21 2008
    • 17191

    Wixom Assembly Plant ~ 1957-2007

    Carl Travis, who worked the Wixom line from the early '70's, into this decade, loaned me his Wixom book that they gave to the employees when they closed down the plant. I will be extracting pictures from it that I think you would enjoy seeing. First is the cover, which says "Home Of The Lincoln". I do not know if there was one that said "Home Of The Thunderbird" or not. That is something I will have to ask him.

    I decided that the pictures would be to small to read well, so I have created a web page for them. You will find it here:

    http://www.squarebirds.org/SB/WixomB...emblyPlant.htm

    Enjoy! I am going to bed!
    Attached Files
    Last edited by YellowRose; April 9, 2015, 11:11 PM.

    Ray Clark - Squarebirds Administrator
    The Terminator..... VTCI #11178 ITC #6000 Yellow Mustang Registry (YMR) #12188
    Contact me via Private Message for my email address, or Call (Cell) 210-875-1411

    https://www.squarebirds.org/picture_gallery/TechnicalResourceLibrary/trl.htm
    Faye's Ovarian Cancer Memorial Website.
    https://faye.rayclark.info/index.html
  • LuckyJay
    • Jan 4 2007
    • 234

    #2
    Sleep well, Ray. When you wake, please accept my Thanks for this... WELL DONE, my friend.

    Comment

    • Coral
      Super-Experienced

      • Apr 3 2009
      • 1132

      #3
      I concur!

      Say...what is that black land yacht?

      That is the hottest car I think Ive ever seen!

      Comment

      • SandyBoy
        Super-Experienced
        • Oct 31 2002
        • 836

        #4
        Ray, anywhere in that terrific book is there a pic of a 1986 Mark in pink ?

        Comment

        • Guest

          #5
          Originally posted by Coral
          I concur!

          Say...what is that black land yacht?

          That is the hottest car I think Ive ever seen!

          Its a Lincoln Zephyr. the two door and convertable were real cool. The 4 door lost something in the look department.

          1941 http://www.lzoc.org/photos/Images/41contcabriolet.jpg

          1940 http://www.lzoc.org/photos/Images/40contcoupe.jpg

          1938 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Li...r_06011701.jpg

          Last edited by Guest; May 30, 2009, 02:44 PM.

          Comment

          • Coral
            Super-Experienced

            • Apr 3 2009
            • 1132

            #6
            Well I dunno what to say...the link pics look VERY different from that long bad booty in black N chrome -

            Comment

            • Guest

              #7
              Oh, youre talking about the 59 Lincoln. Sorry I was thinking about the car on the page above that. I have always liked the looks of the low slung Zephyr
              Last edited by Guest; May 30, 2009, 02:52 PM.

              Comment

              • YellowRose
                Super-Experienced


                • Jan 21 2008
                • 17191

                #8
                Wixom Assembly Plant ~ 1957-2007

                Hi Sandy,

                I looked in the book again, and there was no '86 Mark in pink in it. The book is two thirds pictures of people, their job titles, group events, parties, picnics, stuff like that. In between, there were the pictures I posted and the write ups on the different years of cars. I was hoping for a lot of pictures of the line, but there were hardly any worth trying to put on.

                Ray Clark - Squarebirds Administrator
                The Terminator..... VTCI #11178 ITC #6000 Yellow Mustang Registry (YMR) #12188
                Contact me via Private Message for my email address, or Call (Cell) 210-875-1411

                https://www.squarebirds.org/picture_gallery/TechnicalResourceLibrary/trl.htm
                Faye's Ovarian Cancer Memorial Website.
                https://faye.rayclark.info/index.html

                Comment

                • SandyBoy
                  Super-Experienced
                  • Oct 31 2002
                  • 836

                  #9
                  Awwww, that is too bad !

                  Comment

                  • YellowRose
                    Super-Experienced


                    • Jan 21 2008
                    • 17191

                    #10
                    Update - Wixom Assembly Plant ~ 1957-2007

                    Here is an update on the Wixom plant, closed in 2007 and from what Dave ~ simplyconnected, tells me, is now a shopping mall. From wikipedia.

                    The Wixom assembly plant was one of Ford's largest and oldest manufacturing sites. It opened April 15, 1957, and was ultimately expanded to encompass 4.7 million square feet. Over the plant's 50 years of operation it produced 6,648,806 automobiles. The last car produced was a white chocolate Lincoln Town Car which rolled off the line at 12:55pm on May 31, 2007.

                    During its long history, the plant was mainly used for the manufacture of Lincolns and the Ford Thunderbird. The Lincoln Town Car and the Ford GT were also produced there. Production of the Lincoln LS ended in early April 2006 and production of the Ford GT stopped on September 21, leaving the Town Car as the plant's final product.

                    Wixom was the most profitable plant in the industry during the 1980s when Cadillac downsized its lineup and lost ground to Lincoln. Due to Lincoln's falling sales, Ford announced on January 23, 2006 that the Wixom plant would be idled in 2007 as part of The Way Forward. Some analysts argued that the plant might not be closed. A report in The Oakland Press stated, "The fate of the Wixom plant, however, will depend on the shape of Ford's future product plan, which seems to be currently in flux." Michigan governor, Jennifer Granholm, reportedly offered $115 million in tax cuts to keep the plant open. The plant was nonetheless idled in 2007, and by mid-June 2008, while Ford was able to find buyers for other idled plants, Wixom remained unsold.

                    Products:
                    1958–2002 Lincoln Continental
                    1958–2005 Ford Thunderbird
                    1980–1983 Lincoln Mark VI
                    1981–2007 Lincoln Town Car
                    1984–1992 Lincoln Mark VII
                    1993–1998 Lincoln Mark VIII
                    2000–2006 Lincoln LS
                    2005–2006 Ford GT

                    Carl Heller ~ partsetal, came up with an excellent idea in a recent conversation with me. He suggested that Ford host a Retired/Ex Wixom Plant Retirees event, honoring those who built Thunderbirds, Lincolns, and Ford GT's during the history of the plant. This coupled with present Tbird, Lincoln and Ford GT owners bringing their cars that were built at Wixom during its history should be a very good event. I told Dave about this and he put me in contact with a friend of his, a retired Wixom employee, who worked at the plant from 1976-2006. He, in turn, put me in contact with My Ford Magazine, who put me in contact with Media.Ford.com. To them, I gave the above suggestion. In 2017, it will be the 60th anniversary of the founding of Wixom. That might be a great time to hold such an event. I will let you know what Ford has to say about this.

                    Wixom Assembly Plant History

                    http://www.squarebirds.org/SB/WixomB...emblyPlant.htm
                    Last edited by YellowRose; December 12, 2014, 02:56 PM.

                    Ray Clark - Squarebirds Administrator
                    The Terminator..... VTCI #11178 ITC #6000 Yellow Mustang Registry (YMR) #12188
                    Contact me via Private Message for my email address, or Call (Cell) 210-875-1411

                    https://www.squarebirds.org/picture_gallery/TechnicalResourceLibrary/trl.htm
                    Faye's Ovarian Cancer Memorial Website.
                    https://faye.rayclark.info/index.html

                    Comment

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