In the beginning...

I find this process fascinating and would have loved to observe the entire assembly process from start to finish; especially back in those times before robotics.

I agree Jack. Growing up in the St. Louis, Missouri area, one of my friend's father was the personnel director of the Corvette plant...as such we got  to visit the plant frequently in the fifties to see the cars being assembled. When I see Corvettes of this era at shows today, most do not resemble what was coming off the line due to their being over restored. If you see a  53-62 today without ripples in the fiberglass you can be sure that is not how it left the factory.

@bob-jackman, good point, Bob. A lot of the cars from the fifties and sixties I see at shows and online are in much better shape than when they were new and never really see any time on the road. I like the way they look but, for me, trailer queens are lost opportunities to enjoy the car the way it was made. 

Quality control in the 1950s was not that good, especially as the number of factories multiplied and huge numbers of inexperienced workers came on the job. My father bought a Ford, the 5th to come off the assembly line in Oakville, Ontario in 1953. On his first trip from Toronto to Ottawa, with 512 miles on the clock, he lost the entire rear body from behind the rear window when he went over a bump. Problem was attributed to missing welding. 

I continue to be fascinated with you pictures Galen. Thank you.

@david-green  WHAAAAAT???!!!!  He lost the rear of the body of the car?  Holy cow......I've never heard of such a thing.  Did Ford give him a replacement car?  They sure as heck should have, considering public relations damage control!

@jkuvakas  John; I couldn't bear to have a trailer queen and not drive it; or be afraid to get a scratch or paint chip.  Gotta get that old car down the road on the weekend!

@jack-dodds, I feel the same way about those time-capsule cars that have survived for decades with low mileage. My mind gets twisted at the idea of buying a car and not driving it. Why?

Posted by: @jkuvakas

@jack-dodds, I feel the same way about those time-capsule cars that have survived for decades with low mileage. My mind gets twisted at the idea of buying a car and not driving it. Why?

Driving a collector car sparingly because if original, virtually every time you take it out for more than a trip around the block something needs to be fixed causing you to be stuck at the cruise/show or have to hunt down parts and fix something, usually minor but none the less you are working on it, weather just polishing.  It is like owning an old Harley Davidson; I would rather be riding than working/fixing it. That is why I rode Yamahas and don't have collector's cars anymore [had a '66 & a '68 Charger & '95 Yamaha Virgo 1100]  before retirement], 1:18 is close enough now.  I can't see having a model car collection and not displaying them any more than having a 1:1 collector car that is not driven; the reason I don't have one, I'm too lazy [cheap] to take proper care of one.

@jack-dodds

Hi Jack,

After a little fuss, Ford replaced it with the same model. In those days there was only a 90 day warranty and no consumer protection.Ford gave my father a hard time because the rear bodywork came detached after going over a particularly rough railway crossing at a town called Smiths Falls.

The replacement did not last long, being traded in for a 1955 Chevrolet BelAir in September 1954. That Ford was my father's last Ford.