Flint Assembly Plant Photos, 1972

A series of photos were recently auctioned on Ebay, showing 1972 Buicks in the Buick assembly plant in Flint. I thought that these were fascinating photos, and, since many of you may not have viewed them, you might enjoy seeing them here.

These photos are a real reminder of Buick's past in Flint. Interestingly, Buick built the Electra 225's, Skylarks, and Rivieras in Flint at that time, and I was somewhat surprised to see that the Electras and Skylarks shared the same final assembly line.

The next photo shows the body drop, where the body and chassis came together for the first time. During my first visit to the Buick plant in 1978, this was my favorite aspect of the assembly operation.

There were numerous additional photos in this series, with many others showing various pieces of manufacturing and test equipment. To see all of these, check the completed items for 1972 Buick. The captions shown on the Ebay auctions for each of the photographs appear to be jumbled up, however, and do not always fit the photos shown.

WOW! Beautiful cars!

It was also interesting to see the techs with a '72 Electra hooked up to what was likely a tach/dwell meter for adjustments on the car. It suggests that Buicks really did come from the factory much closer to perfect than many other mass-produced cars of that time.

It is also fascinating to see the Skylark/GS models on the same line with Electras. Nowdays, the Japanese produce multiple makes in one factory, and it is considered revolutionary to be able to convert from one line to another, or handle a sudden surge in one model's popularity. Now I see Buick was doing it 32 years ago.

Thanks for sharing the photos.

Joe

Cool pics! Thanks for sharing.

I have photos of 67 and 68 Buicks on the same line also. Norb