This past Tuesday (12/23/08) was the last day of Production at most GM plants until late February. Automotive industry lay-offs and plant shutdowns fill the news these days. The Bowling Green, KY plant is no different. I visited the Bowling Green assembly plant to watch my Z06 be built on the last day of production before the shutdown. Production starts back up late February at a reduced production schedule.

Read the full story after the jump!



This is the story of my 2009 Cyber Grey Z06 (3LZ)...

I wanted to order it in February as a birthday present (similar to the GTO back 5 years ago). But I really wanted it to be ready early in spring and wanted to enjoy it before they announced the 2010's. There was no combination of options like I had wanted anywhere in the country. If I was doing this, I was going to go all the way and get what I really wanted. It would then make it worthwhile. With the doom, gloom, and 2 month shutdown from GM - I ordered early. Just so I'd be first inline in March. Well, someone must have seen a 'sold order' and pushed it up the line. The TPW was the 2 day work week before closing and Christmas. I really wanted to see it come together and also meet some of the people that did the hard work. It would put my mind at ease to know they were not slapping it out just to ship it.

The Monday it was scheduled to be built I spoke with Lori at the Corvette Museum. She was beyond helpful. She gave me my VIN and also told me what job # the car would be at later on that day. The Corvette Museum does 'buyer's tours' to allow buyers to watch some of their car go together during a special tour of the plant. She informed me that if I was there for the 6AM shift the next morning I could see the last few hours of production. The miracle was that at 5PM on Monday I was on the freeway with 2 friends headed from Milwaukee Wisconsin to Bowling Green Kentucky. (I have an awesome wife). The not so miraculous side to the story was that we arrived around 2AM in Corvette-Town. After 3 hours of shut eye and a refreshing shower we were at the front door to GM's Bowling Green Assembly Plant.

The buyers tours are given by retired assembly workers. Jerry was the retiree that was our personal guide all day. I can't describe the vast amounts of information this man has stored in his memories. He started working with GM in St Louis, building full sized chevys and trucks. For a year he worked at the St Louis Corvette plant and just moved with Corvette to it's new home in Bowling Green.

Jerry had some bad news for us. We were lucky that it turned out in our favor. The plant shut down early on Monday because of a parts shortage. We walked all the way to the back of the plant and found my production number. It was sitting above a motor hanging from some hooks. We got in at ground zero practically. The only thing we missed was some of the interior going together and the assembly of the main body.

The line runs all the Corvette models. Every few in the line are Z06's and even fewer in the line are the $100k+ ZR1. The Z06 and ZR1 models are more labor intensive to assemble, if they had them back to back the line would backup.

We walked over to where the brakes were put onto the front and rear subframes, then placed together with the rear end, transmission, torque tube, and finally the motor. At that time I was given a copy of my build sheet and a few other sub assembly sheets. We were also given fender knockouts from export fenders painted the same color as my car.

What really took me by surprise were the people behind the car. Down to earth hard working Americans. Practically every other person on the line asked us which one was “the one”. I can not even recall the amount of people that congratulated me, thanked me, and wished me a Merry Christmas. One worked even waved me over just to shake my hand. For some of them it was their last day at the plant. It was a little emotional.

We watched as the body was married to the chassis. Then it began to come to life. Headlights, fenders, exhaust, hood, front fascia…. wheels and tires. I started to get the feeling that my tour was a little special since we caught it early and it was the last day before shutdown. One of the workers had me sign and date the underside of the engine cover. I was also the first person to start the car. The person in charge of doing the electrical and computer testing brought me in the car and explain all the tests. When he said “hit it”, I pushed the ignition button and it came to life. The worker after that doing some of the functionality testing also brought me in the car to explain everything he was testing. These guys were all extremely and genuinely nice. During the final inspection all the gaps and panels were checked. I was a little worried seeing some of the panels earlier – but they went the distance to make it perfect. Adjustment after adjustment until the hatch and hood fit perfectly. Before it drove off the line they had me sit in the drive seat and start it up. They told me to give it a few rev’s and thanked me once again for my order.

We followed the car to watch the alignment of the suspension and headlights. From there it went on a Dyno for powertrain testing. Then it went to a water testing booth and was doused with water for 2 minutes. They tested for leaks then drove it out back of the plant to the rattle and bump track to test – you guessed it, rattles and bumps.

From there we went to the Corvette Museum to meet Lori. We took a walk around. I wont pick it up until March when the plant opens back up. Until then it’ll be warm and cozy with the Museum.

Special Thanks...
Corvette Museum
Bowling Green Assembly Plant
CorvetteConti.com