Packard Plant pictures

hey fellow Packard fans: there is a website with pictures of the Packard plant, as she sits today http://www.survivalcrackas.com/ (LINK BROKEN???-Wayne)go to the menu prompt on the upper left side of the screen, select "pictures" then scroll down to 'Packard plant". The site is put up by a couple of high school aged kids who explore abanonded buildings in Detroit (no shortage here), and take pictures, and put them up for us to enjoy. John

Mr.Pushbutton

Thanks.

They also have a video of the Packard site on the surveillance page.

With the glut of beautiful old architecture in need of restoration in Detroit I'm afraid the Packard Plant is low on the list of viable properties. Unfortunately it's been neglected for too many years (with mother nature doing her job) and along with the size and environmental issues makes it unlikely it could be saved as a whole. I do think someone could afford to save the main entrance area with a few thousand sq ft though. It would be a shame to see it go now after all these years.

next time you are at Lackluster video, check out "True Romance" (1993) there is a scene early on where Dennis Hopper is a security guard, and is shown locking up the gate at the Packard plant. The first part of the movie was shot in Detroit, and the P plant had it's 15 mins. there. Unfortunately, there is a lot of interest in demolition, a crooked developer (whose son owned the demolition firm that illegally began demo) was conspiring with the city to 86 the place. They did everything possible to hasten the demise of the place, took out window sections, exposed as much to the elements as possible. It's most likely a matter of time. I would be happy if a large industrial concern restored the office HQ portion and demolished and built a modern factory on to the back. That's unlikely though. The city, like the rest of the nation has given up on manufacturing what we use, and prefers to send that work to EPA free, OSHA free and trial attorney free China. Detroit would rather invest in gambling casinos. The beat goes on with this one, and it's just a matter of time before the folks who stand to profit off of this regroup and get their way. We are discussing a "Detroit automotive historical site" bus tour for the 2006 national convention, which I will lead. The last stop will be the Packard plant, which should still be there in 2006. Nothing happens that fast in Detroit. You will want to stay on the bus, though--that's a Two-Gun neighborhood. John

Whoa that weird. Living in Southern California it's hard to imagine how Detroit is. I worked for a company based there once in the early 90s and saw vast stretches of dead buildings like that. In So. Cal. everything is re-used, refurbished and revamped so fast it makes Detroit look like a time warp.

The guys there told me how they still have rubble from the Detroit Riots which were, what, something like 1968?

Well it was all said in the old Bobby Baer tune Detroit City- "by day I make the cars and by night I make the bars....."

Seems like everyone else does too!

If you want to read interesting articles about the Detroiit Auto makers and the factories go to :http://info.detnews.com/history/story/index.cfm?id=16&category=business

I grew up across from Detroit in Windsor Ontario and remember some of these plants well. Sad to me that they have gone to ruin. When driving through Detroit on I-75 I often think about turning off on East Grand Blvd. to see the old Packard plant but the area is so dangerous I think twice and drive on

Twitch, unlike LA, Detroit has no mountain range or other geological feature to hinder unlimited growth. Perhaps it's a sad outgrowth of our principal industry (i.e. new=good, old=bad), but the powers that be prefer to buy up farm pastures for new housing and industrial development. The federal government helped this process along with housing loans that favored suburban new construction over old/existing housing. The same Federal government established the brownfield rulings on old industrial sites, and that didn't do the cities any favors either. The riots were in '67, and there may be an odd burned out hulk not demolished/carted away, but all other traces are gone. There is now a new strip mall at 12th and Claremont, the epicenter of the riots. This may sound like something from the peoples republic of California, but I wish that Michigan would keep all industrial work/development in the Detroit industrial areas (that are already messed up), tear down unusable factories and build the new on the sites, rather than the current practice of going out to farm country and plowing over a pasture. Dave K. from Canada, you can drive by the Packard plant, it's not that bad, just apply common sense, don't go at night (early AM is the best time), oh and it's off of I-94, not I-75.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> It's nice to see those kids aren't trashing the place - just exploring it.

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You're right, there's probably more than a dozen sites on the net dedicated to exploring Detroit's architecture and showing great interest in preserving by the younger generation.

Seems like it was back in the seventies (74?) when the Packard club had a meet there and actually drove their cars through the plant, must have been an experience.

Also remember reading there were some parts lying around down in the basement areas that were spotted during that meet.

Well the mountains haven't stopped developers here yet. It just keeps spreading! The Detroit guys told me in 1991 that there was still riot rubble around. I didn't know how much or where.

It is all very nice that some folks think old buildings should be save and renovated for history. But realistically, realtive to everything else, the Packard factory holds a little interest for a tiny few. And yes, why not keep industrial facilities in industrial areas that have always been industrially zoned?

Visit the old Packard plant anytime in this>>>

I found some more Packard plant pix here... http://www.detroityes.com/industry/27pacoverpass.htm

Look all throught the site as the sequence stops and starts on Packard.

I was at the national Packard meet in 73 and had my 1954 Caribbean inside the plant. There were at least several hundred cars in there. I will find the photos and post them after I retire in July. There was a 1958 Packard parked next to a 38 twelve. One of the old time Packard dealer mechanics who was there looked at both cars side by side and declared the 1958 "The Afterbirth". Joel

Joel, glad to hear you will be posting some photos. Is there any truth to some souvenir V12 pistons being found there? Were you able to drive across the bridge between the new and old part of the plant?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">It is all very nice that some folks think old buildings should be save and renovated for history. But realistically, realtive to everything else, the Packard factory holds a little interest for a tiny few. </div></div>

Twitch, I think the Packard plant as well as other similar sites have interest beyond a few Packard owners. The Packard plant was a real milestone in industrial design, especially for auto plants; http://info.detnews.com/history/story/index.cfm?id=144&category=people

There are all kinds of urban legands about what has been found at the plant. However, they are just that. Everything Packard has been gone for many, many years. One of our local club members had storage there and had a lot of Packards and parts there. Some of the parts were stolen and sold on eBay. They did catch the thief and the man who put him up to it. Joel

I just find it strange that out of ALL the vast decay of urban Detroit anyone outside of Packard fans would care about the old plant. Surprised, that's all. I love pics of older cars and unique urban architecture. What's more, I love pics of junked cars and delelict buildings. Photos of that are art to me if well composed.

Thw weird thing is as I searched for more pics of the factory I found websites that cater to a whole underground sub-culture that like to do what the guys that went to the Packard factory did- take pictures of unique old buildings and machinery. And these people aren't all kids. Most are well past 30 looking at their forum ages!

This little foray to the automotive underworld has proven that there is a website catering to every interest!

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Twitch, how would you like to stumble upon his guy's Detroit warehouse? <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

http://www.expat-online.com/about/bjpollard/index.cfm

Wow! 600 Cars! That guy was a true car addict. That's much more than most museums and official collections. <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />

I was there in 1979, and got to meet the great man, himself. The website does not have a picture that does justice to the spectacle that was Barney's collection. there were what looked like huge lumberyard sheds, with acre upon acre of teens,twenties (lots) and 30's cars stacked on end, radiators facing up, then other cars stacked horizontally on top of those. The WWII scrap officals wanted those cars for the war effort, and Barney was going to lose them, but his old friend Henry Ford (THE H.F.) steppped in and called off the dogs. Old Henry found some scrap metal in one of his plants, and donated that in place of Barney's cars. His passing was the end of an era. My former employer went to the city with a plan to convert the train station (it's abandoned now--and on the above listed websites) into a Detroit auto history museum, which would have included Barney's "nice" cars. His plans fell on deaf ears (the Coleman Young admin.) what a loss all around. J

Yes that was certainly a loss for Detroit.