How Many GM's?

[jeff_a]

I read yesterday that the 50,000,000th GM car was built about 1950, with the fifty-millionth Chevrolet following several years later.

Does anyone know how many Post-War GM Cars have been built? My guess would be a million a year from 1946 to 2009, or 64,000,000+.

Edited March 17, 2010 by jeff_a (see edit history)

[starfireelvis]

I seem to recall reading a story back around the time that Oldsmobiles finally shut their lines down for good (4/29/2004) that the total number of Oldsmobiles ever built was in the 35 million range (from 1897 through 2004).

There is a picture dated 1/11/62 in "Setting The Pace", the fine history of Oldsmobile book from Helen Jones Earley and Jim Walkinshaw, that shows the 7,500,000 Oldsmobile built was a 1962 Starfire Coupe. But, that is the total number of Oldsmobiles from day one; I think the 5 millionth Oldsmobile was produced during the 1955 model year.

Just a piece of the puzzle, but hope it helps some.

Edited March 17, 2010 by starfireelvis
additional information (see edit history)

[jeff_a]

Thanks for the info on Oldsmobile. I tried looking up the GM numbers on Wikipedia, but it wasn't much help.

[West Peterson]

GM's 50 millionth car was built in 1955. They celebrated with a gold 1955 Chevrolet two-door hardtop. The 50 millionth Chevrolet was built in 1963, also celebrated with a gold two-door hardtop. It is owned by Rick and Jim Schmidt of NPD.

Edited March 17, 2010 by West Peterson (see edit history)

[Marty Roth]

West is indeed correct.

The fifty millionth GM Car was a gold 1955 Chevrolet Bel-air 2-door Hardtop Convertible (no, the top did not go down - that is what they called the car with no "B" pillar - the windows went down like a convertible with no post)

I saw the car (or they may have cloned it for display) a the GM Assembly Plant in Linden, New Jersey. At that time the plant assembled Buick, Oldsmobile, and Pontiac. Later in the '70s the Linden Plant assembled Cadillacs, but during WWII it was assembling aircraft - really big stuff, and the gov't built a new airport right on the other side of US-1. At night they would shut down the federal highway and tow the planes across to the airport. Sadly, the plant is now closed, but when my Dad was on the Fire Dept we regularly visited.

When the '55 Chevy - GM's fifty millionth car - was on display, the plant was open to the public for tours, and people lined up for hours to watch the assembly line process. I was age 13, and amazed that they used a big rubber mallet to pound in the windshields.

[franklinman]

The last time I was by there (about a year ago) they were demolishing the whole plant. I'm sure that it's probably nothing but an empty lot by now!

[Centurion]

We know that GM had produced 75-million cars by the time this 1962 Pontiac was assembled.

[West Peterson]

Wow. 25 million cars in 7 years.

The 50 millionth GM car is still in existence, I'm told. Not owned by Chevrolet, but by someone in the southeast... Tennessee or North Carolina, I think.

The gentleman never shows it from what I understand.

[starfireelvis]

That is interesting--as it took GM 7 years (from '55 to '62) to go from 50 million to 75 million, it took Oldsmobile 7 years (again, '55 to '62) to go from 5 million to 7.5 million--exact same rate of growth. Were we making cars or what?!?!

I can't help but think, as an Oldsmobile guy, I am reminded about, how in one generation, how the company Ransom E. Olds founded in 1897 went from producing the most popular car for nearly a decade in the Olds Cutlass, to becoming extinct in 2004.

I will keep this in the context of the domestic automobile industry, but what I'm about to say seems to apply in large part to nearly everything in our society today.

I would dare say that that era of the mid-'50s/early '60s represents, in so many ways, when America was at its finest, in terms of making real progress, and the hearts and minds of its citizens had tremendous hopes and dreams of what the future would bring.

I can only hope that the General and Mopar can once again become private institutions, and recapture their former glories.

Edited March 23, 2010 by Rawja
Politics. (see edit history)

[Guest Bob Call]

He is a link to a copy of GM brochures from 1955 about the 50th million car.

Hot Cars

Looks like it was a 55 Chevy

[jeff_a]

Well, my guess of 50,000,000+ was a little off.

The figure is 424,180,263

(General Motors vehicles built, worldwide, 1946-2009)

source: GM

[Guest Dee Jay]

I agree with starfireelvis that the late 50s and early 60s were great times. I was growing up then and everyone was full of hope and excitement. Then came the Southeast Asian Conflict.