I once saw a picture in black and white of 1957 Chevrolet Nomad bodies 3/4 of the way built and being shipped to one of the 12 Chevrolet assembly plants by train standing up on their rear bumpers with a 10 *degree angle . These cars the way I have heard it where already painted , and had their matching interior's installed . Then one of the 12 Chevrolet Assembly plants would finish installing the drive train , mount and paint blend in the nose ect. Has anyone else ever seen this picture ? Dose anyone know where I can get a copy of it ?
-
-
I don't know if I've seen a photo or not, but that's essentially the way it was done. No bumpers though, because they were shipped without a frame - and the bumper attaches to the frame. -
I suspect this is it, Domenic...? Shows '57 wagons as they are prepared to leave the Cleveland OH Fisher body plant... ALL Nomads and many wagons were built in this Fisher plant, complete with interior, paint, etc but minus the chassis (frame and drive train, and front body panels which were completed at one of the 10 assembly plants.
Cleveland body plant 1957.jpg
and Here are some '56 models as they arrived at an Assembly plant (in 1956) which shows the bodies on the body bucks used for shipping.
56 chevy body on buck at assembly plant_n.jpg
PS. I think I recall seeing a photo of Fisher bodies (maybe Nomads?) on a train also, but don't have a copy of it... may have been in an old NNC magazine, but as Rick said .... they didn't have bumpers at that point.Last edited by BamaNomad; 12-11-2021, 07:49 PM.Comment
-
I remember as a kid seeing frames stacked at an angle on railroad cars, headed to some assembly plant. We lived 3 doors from the railroad tracks, and that was an every day occurance.Comment
-
Your right no frame no bumper's . I have had a friend or two claim that they remember seeing this sort of picture . They were standing up pitched forward about ten degrees . Maybe I'll call john Chamber's he may know . Thanks for the info .Comment
-
The 1955-57 Nomads had very strange beginnings. Because the 1955-57 Nomad bodies were so different than Chevrolet's regular offerings , they used the Clevland Ohio plant to make all the " Nomad bodies ". They were painted with full interior's and then the partially completed wagon's went on a train standing almost straight up, tipped forward 10 degree's to the 12 Chevrolet assembly plants to be completed . This was so costly that these 1955-57 Nomads cost more to build, and to sell , than the Convertibles and the Corvette's.Last edited by nomad; 12-12-2021, 01:44 PM.Comment
-
Bama , you say the 10 assembly plants ? They were using St. Louis for all the Corvettes, and Clevland made all the
Nomad bodies is this why you say 10 and not the 12 plants that they had ? The picture I remember seeing had all the Nomad bodies upright and loaded on the train .Last edited by nomad; 12-12-2021, 01:56 PM.Comment
-
Domenic,
No, I stated '10' assembly plants from memory; maybe I should have verified...
I just went and checked the assembly plants for 1957, and found that they were: A - Atlanta,GAB - Baltimore,MDF - Flint, MI J - Janesville,WIK - KansasCity, MOL - LosAngeles, CAN - Norwood,OHO - Oakland,CAS - St. Louis,MOT - Tarrytown, NY. That's 10 isn't it? Am I missing one? What are the two I'm missing if there were 12 as you stated?Comment
-
I did not know this, interesting.Comment
-
nomad/Domenic: Cleveland was NOT an assembly plant (ie. There was no assembly plant in Cleveland), BUT there were TWO Fisher body plants in the Cleveland area; one of which was on Euclid Avenue which made the Nomad Bodys (and many other wagon bodies, eg Safari Pontiac, and some 'std' wagons as well). The Fisher body plants produced the body panels and bodies from the firewall back (no frame) but with interior, glass, trim, etc. FISHER did this for ALL the models, not just Nomads. In some cities, the Fisher plant was adjacent (sometimes sharing a wall with a huge opening for the bodys to go thru) to the GM Assembly Plant. In these cases, there was no shipment since the body just moved thru the wall to the assembly plant, still on the body buck.
But.. Nomads were NOT the only models shipped; they were unique in that ALL nomad bodys were shipped to a distant assembly plant, but there were other situations where certain car bodies were shipped to an assembly plant in a different city.Comment
-
Bama , my restorer friend Bob has my worn out copie of How to restore your 57 Chevrolet by Harold Luisiana .In the rear of this book they list the assembly plants my Memorie could be off . I live about 10 miles away from the old GM assembly plant in Tarrytown NY. My friend who started working their in 1958 told me that they were making 500 cars a shift two shifts a day . That's 1,000 cars a day . Only the Oakland California plant was making more end of the year production totals than that , and not by many cars . Ancor Motors were hauling 9 cars on a trailer out of their every three min. X-2 one trailer going North and one going South . Thier were always two trailers three min . behind them . They were moving 1,000 cars a day out of the Tarrytown NY assemble plant . These were GMC tractors with big block Chevrolet gas engines , and standard transmissions .Comment
-
I think it's very well known what the list of assembly plants was.
Big block Chevrolet gas engines did not exist in the 55-57 time frame. If the trucks were GMCs they had a six cylinder engine. W engines came out in 58, Mark IV big blocks in 65.Comment
-
I don't know when they started, but most 60s era GMCs I've seen had one.Comment
-
[QUOTE=Rick_L;63584]I don't know when they started, but most 60s era GMCs I've seen had one.[/QUOT
GMC Truck produced a unique 60 degree V6 engine family from 1959 through 1974, in gasoline and Diesel versions. V8 and V12 derivatives of the basic design were also produced. Examples of this engine family were found in pickup trucks, Suburbans, heavier trucks and motor coaches.
V6 big block engines were produced in 305, 351, 401 and 478 cubic-inch (5.0, 5.8, 6.6, and 7.8 respectively liter) displacements, with considerable parts commonality. During the latter years of production, 379-and-432-cubic-inch (6.2 and 7.1 L) versions with enlarged crankshaft journals were manufactured as well.
GMC produced a 637-cubic-inch (10.4 L) 60? V8 with a single cam shaft using the same general layout (bore and stroke) as the 478 V6. The 637 V8 was the largest displacement production gasoline V8 ever made for highway trucks.
The largest engine derived from the series was a 702-cubic-inch (11.5 L) "Twin Six" V12, which had a unique block and crankshaft, but shared many exterior parts with the 351.
Diesel versions of the 351, 478 and 637, advertised as the ToroFlow, were also manufactured. These engines had no relationship to the well-known Detroit Diesel two-stroke engines produced by General Motors during the same time period.
I read the above on the internet so it must be true.Comment
Comment