Tried a search, no results... My 1988 Z28 didn't have this logo stamped on anything. But my 1988 IROC has it stamped on the plastic trim by the door. What's this thing about?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fisher_Body

The link above explains it, but thats where I got my name, my last name is Fischer, and I'm a bodyman. Body by Fischer. I always remember seeing those old metal rocker plates with the coach on it on GM cars.

So they developed a lot of things in the auto industry...

When it says body by fisher, are they saying that the Fisher Body Company designed the Camaro for chevy?

Not really too sure exactly what the company was doing, the Fisher bro's resigned in the 40s and the company kept going as a part of GM?

GM bought out the company, then hired themselves basicly to design their cars...

Obviously I'm a little lost as to what exactly the fisher company did, designed the cars?

No, Fisher was the division of GM that built the bodies, just like Hydramatic built automatic transmissions.

The GM Design Studio developed the exterior and interior design of the car. It was the GM Fisher Body Division's job to engineer, produce, and assemble the body shell and everything inside or attached to it.

Basically, when a vehicle styling design and interior were finalized, Fisher Body made it a reality that could be driven down the road.

ALL GM bodies are built by the Fisher Division; except the Corvette, which is built by Chevrolet, and the Fleetwood, which is built by the old Fleetwood Coach Works (now also a GM division). Or at least, up until a few years ago. For all I know there might be another body or 2 out there more recently, that some other division builds; maybe the Aztek or something? (I bet whatever division built that would LOVE for some other division to take the credit for it.... )

Many pieces & parts were made by Fisher Body. Fisher made Grills, trim pieces, seat belt pieces, My grandmother (yes grandmother) used to be one of the quality inspectors for the Fisher body plant here in Flint MI on coldwater Rd. (now a parking lot).

One thing that most people do not understand is our cars were not made in a Factory as such. For example Buick had a manufacturing plant here in Flint where on some cars I believe everything from the stamping to casting of the engines were made on site and then assembled all at one "factory". Some pieces like headlights, transmissions etc were shipped in but there was a lot of in house manufacturing.

On the other hand both Van Nuys and Norwood did not make many if any parts, they were solely an assembly plant. Parts, like the body, glass, trim, engine, transmission, fenders etc were all trucked in from another plant.

Fisher was a division (like stated above) much like Harrison, Delco, Delco-Reime, Delco "guide-lamp" all made specific pieces and parts which were shipped to an assembly plant or factory which were assembled on cars. What is really interesting is for a time the front fenders & hood would have one color primer and the rear portion of the car would have another. IIRC many time the front clip would be a gray promer and the rest of he body would be a Black. In some cases the body was actually painted at Fisher, and the fenders were painted at another facility. I have noticed even recently that the color of the bumpers on new cars are not necessarily the same as the rest of the car. I believe our cars were pained at the assembly plant from the overspray patterns on the cars I have seen.

As for your threshold not haveing the "Body By fisher" I am not sure why it would not be there. I know I have seen some without it, but all of my cars do have it, I have 2 83's, 2 87's an 89 and a 91 from both Norwood and Van Nuys.

John

In doing some research on F-Body seatbelts that were made mostly by General Safety.This company in turn was part of Fisher Body division of GM(as we all know).As GM has downsized it has sold or disolved parts or whole divisions(Oldsmobile and Frigidaire for example).Fisher Body is a ghost of it's former prominence as what I've read so far.

As Okfoz pointed out the F-Body line was assembled from parts that would come in from other plants.Just look at where your motor,trans or rear diff came from.Now in the age of NAFTA there are the content labels as to where the parts may have originated and then the final assembly was made.

Wow, that actually is pretty amazing. It sort of warms my heart to think back to the day my car was being assembled, rolling out of the lot with 0 on the odometer. Regardless how many of my car was made, there is only one of "my" car.

Almost makes me feel closer to her, just knowing the journey she already came along.

Have any of you guys ever visited a plant like that and watched one be assembled?

The Corvette assembly plant in Bowling Green is open for tours. When you order a Corvette, you can even schedule a visit to see your car being made, and take delivery of it from the factory.

That is really cool...and i can say if i ever had the privilege to purchase a new corvette i would definently be at the plant to watch it be made.

since you are on the topic of other manufacturers making products for the F-Body, I noticed that a company named "Irvin" made the plastics for the seatbelts, the receivers, and the plastic on the buckles. I was trying to find a replacement for the plastic piece that goes on the buckle and I noticed it says Irvin on the back. They are still around, if you do a search for Irvin Automotive, they make interior stuff like consoles, sun visors, seatbelts, etc...

My Uncle Bob worked for GM/Chevy division as a design enginner through the 50's and 60's, then transfered to the proving grounds/ test center in Arizona until his retirement. We would visit almost every summer, and once, I think in 1965 got to see the full size Chevy's being built. It was pretty cool! About 20 minutes from bare chassis to running automobile. The parts did come from all over, and were just assembled at the main plant. Uncle Bob worked on body designs, and served on the design teams for the Covair, the Corvette, and Chevy trucks. There were usually 8 to 10 enginners working on the design of each model, and they developed models five years before they were introduced to the market. The prototypes were pretty cool, but they guarded them closely! Uncle Bob would always bring home a model set for introduction in the fall to show off for my dad. One year I got beat-up at school in the fall, because Uncle Bob had brought home a 1968 Camaro Z-28 302, four speed, solid white, for Dad to drive. I was 12, and couldn't wait to get back home in Florida to tell my friends at school. Of course they called me a liar, because "Chevy didn't make a 302", but I insisted they did, and the rest is history! I learned to keep my mouth shut. Charles

Years ago I knew an heir of the Fisher fortune.

Another little tidbit of info for y'all...

Apparently at one time there were several other companies which eventually became part of the Fisher family. Turnsted for example was at one time GM's largest division and eventually became part of Fisher. Another name at one time that used the Fisher name was "Fisher Guide" Obviously they made light bulbs, headlamps etc.

John

Pretty Interesting . . . .


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIqWwcSMq44