The 2012 Norwood Gathering is has a set date of 8-25-2012 which is the 25th annv of the assembly plant closure. The GM Salary and the UAW Retirees are holding a Private all plant reunion event located in Norwood Ohio that will also feature an additional plant history event the night before for the showcase participants only.

In total the reunion production showcase has room for a total of 10 Third Generation Norwood built "F" cars for the all year automotive exhibition showcase that will be the centerpiece of the reunion. An ideal participation balance would be 5 stock appearing Pontiac Firebirds and 5 stock appearing Chevrolet Camaros all built at NOR and built between 1982 and 1987.

Additional information can be found here: http://camaropacecars.com/eve/forums/a/frm/f/6211035326

If you are interested in attending drop me a PM.

 

I wanted to give you guys an update on the event. The display showcase is already full and I have a waiting list of first and second generation F Cars at this point so that's pretty good!

I am still holding several spots for the Third Gen cars but if there are no takers soon I will likely fill the remaining showscase spaces from the waiting lists.

Friday night will be a treat with a 90 minute video presentation as we will watch the build out of a third generation car from the body shop through to road and roll. Panel discussion will follow featuring CPC Plant Manager Herb Stone and others.

So if you you have a Third generation Norwood car that you can display and an interest in meeting the very people that built that car just send me a PM

 

Will this video be available for us members that desire to watch how a Norwood camaro is built? Possibly youtube?I live in ca and going to ohio is a long shot lol

 

I would like to know that too. It seems to me like you can't participate unless you have a zero mile museum piece. I'm not terribly far from Norwood either...

 

Yes I think that the video will be posted at some point in the future along with a significant number of production photographs. This is a future project. Thanks for asking.

Video and Photos only tell part of the story. The people who can explain what is going on in each photo down to the smallest detail are the real pot of gold and this is information that they are willing to share...that is what makes an event like this very exciting for the researcher/car owner.

We had a car from California appear last year.

 

If your car is a Norwood build and stock appearing that is what is desired. The car can be restored or a survivor. The car can be a well maintained driver also it does not need to be perfect.

 

I own two 1982's one an LG-4 the other an LU-5 both are good driver quality but both are LA builds... so I am out too

 

Thats good news. Mine has some dings and paint chips if you get close enough, but its a 100% original paint/panel survivor.

 

Car looks great, Brad. What's going on with that other white IROC under the tent? Looks like some kind of judging.

 

Nice looking car! Why not join us then? Send me a PM and I will get your invitation packet out to you.

 

Here is a pic of my 86 TA made in original Norwood. The first pic is when I got it the second is now. Cheers....

 

Thank you! I will have to debate if I want to make the drive. But ill definitely let you know soon if I want to go thru a PM. Thanks for the invite.

 

Motown, if you don't want to drive the Camaro that far, what about a renting a dolley and towing it? (If you have another vehicle capable of towing.)

 

Both Jason and Mark Rented Dolly's last year. The people who came last year blazed the trail for the rest of you. BTW... there are over 650 pre registered UAW retirees and Salary Alumni (as of now) and we are still 40 days out from the event.

 

l would love to attend, unfortunately I can't afford it. I don't take the car for more than an hour drive. I'd need to rent a dolly and a vehicle to tow my Z-28.
(Its an '83, built in Norwood, 3rd week in June of 83.)
Bums me out, I'd love to meet and talk to the people who made my baby.

 

Your car is probably one of the last Crossfires made.

 

Really? When did they stop making them?

 

End of 83 model year production, before the changeover to 84 which was in time to have 84 cars sitting on dealer lots nation-wide by Labor Day... mid-late June of 83, more or less.

I might be in the area there on that day myself, might have to stop by if so. Exactly where will this event be held? (given that the old plant is long gone and the site is completely different now, about all that's left is the ruins of the loading ramps along the tracks) I doubt the Harley dealer over there now, or any of the other stuff that's there, wants it in their parking lot...

 

Rechecked the body plate. My car was made 2nd week in June...........Still one of the last I'm sure. Gonna contact GM Heritage to dig deeper.

Sorry, not wanting to hijack your thread CPC Norwood.

 

Thanks for the interest in the event. The rules for event venue (private property)-exclude public participation. The event Friday night is also restricted to invited car owners only. Event badges will be required for both and Event security will be privided by Norwood PD and UAW Local 674.

This thread is an outreach to Third Gen owners. Excluding the Pace car site -this is the only thread that I have started anywhere on the WWW to encourage participation. The first and Second Generation owners are on waiting lists at this point with no forum threads where those people hang out.

 

I have had a couple of requests to see a picture of the LOS LG-4 so here you go!!

 

That is a super cool '82. Low mile survivor?

 

64,000 original miles. Great car to drive and very reliable. Thanks for the kind words.

 

Good God! Thats that rare 82 only color. The name is not coming to me though...

 

That would be "Dark Claret" More people just call it Maroon Metallic. Build Sheet calls it "DK CLARET IRI"

 

This is a really cool event, but unfortunately it coincides with the Trans Am Nationals held the same weekend in Dayton, OH, so most of the Firebird owners might go there. Please post this on my local board, since the owners would be local to this event. www.nkyfba.com

 

Thanks for the post and comments. The event date was picked by the retired Norwood workers and management to match the 25th annv of the plant closure.

Of the Firebird owners that were invited to attend each had made plans to attend the Trans-AM nationals first and either decided to attend the Norwood Gathering instead or attend both events as a couple of car owners are currently planning to do as the event sites are about an hour apart.

One owner sumed it up best I think... he said "there will be Trans-Am Nationals to attend years from now but this event will never happen like this ever again" to a degree I think he is right as the people who made the cars are either passing away or will retire to the point where they might not attend future events- not that the numbers could go down (they could go up) but the vibe of this event will be unique.

 

I wanted to quote my original post on this event to clairify a bit cause the thread is getting long. As a reminder you need to be invited to attend and the event is not open to the public.

The showcase for First and Second Generation F bodies is currently full but I do have openings that I am saving for Third Generation cars.

With the constraints of time closing in I will soon release these remaining spots and fill them from the waiting lists that I have right now.

If you are on the fence time is getting short. Committed third generation participation is currently zero and that is where we are at a little over a month out from the event.

Criteria to attend is pretty simple the car owner - and perhaps the guest has an interest in meeting the people who built his or her car and bring a stock appearing Norwood Built car to the event and display it.

 

Dayton and Norwood are no more than an hour apart.

I bought a 3rd gen as soon as they built one that wasn't a complete joke (L69), and owned my share of 1st & 2nd gen ones before that.

I don't like being told IN THE SLIGHTEST that "I'm not welcome" at someone's "private" get-together while they're TROLLING for "participants". This sounds like typical union member behavior to me.

If these guys would get off their "internal only" thing and let THE PEOPLE who own these cars join at least a little bit (doesn't have to be their "private" dinner where the employees get together and re-live the "good old days" before GM realized they had to be COST and QUALITY competitive in order to survive), they might have ALOT better luck getting THE PEOPLE WHO OWN THEM to "participate".

 

It sort of sounds that way to me too.

The vibe I get is: "Hello, we're having a private party which none of you guys are invited to, but if we can just get a couple of you jamokes to deliver your pride and joy, so we can use it as a prop, we'll let you stay. Maybe we'll even let you bring a guest."

 

I am glad you support the hobby and are interested in the event. Like any other get together where you are invited to attend and the location is on private or leased property the event typically operates at a break even or a loss so it is simply not possible to have an open door to the public.

 

Actually I am looking for 10 cars. Yes still holding 10 spots open for third gen cars. This is a great way for the third generation cars to display on an even par with the first and second generation cars despite all the anti third gen bias in all the print media that exists to this day.

Yes it is quite likely that a third generation car would be staged next to a 1969 ZL-1.

We would like you guys to come but time is running short with signs to get made and awards to order etc...

 

Hello CPC norwood, I am a GM retiree and a previous employee from the Norwood plant (8/12/77 seniority date )and would like to attend the plant reunion gathering the 25th.

 

Just got back from a ride in the LU-5 tonight.. a good running CrossFire Car is a real treat to drive!

Welcome Home etonebass...check your PM box next time you sign in.

 

Hi, maybe CPC Norwood or another Norwood GM plant worker might be able to help me on this. First, my wife's grandfather worked on the Fisher Body side of the plant and has invited us to go to the reunion which I am really excited about! Second, as some of you might have noticed I posted a classified for wanting Norwood GM employee stuff of plant stuff. I have a patch that I am not sure would go on a jacket or a shirt and it says GMDA Norwood the Pacer Plant. It shows the tri-state Ohio, Indiana, and KY but on the side of the patch it says Snuffy on it and shows I believe the comic book character Snuffy Smith. I was wondering first why was Norwood called the Pacer Plant (i am assuming since they built most the pace cars but I am not sure on who built more in 80 and 82) was this a patch that any of the Norwood GM workers wore, what did they wear it on, and why was Scruffy put on the patch? If somebody could help me on this maybe somebody who worked at the plant it would be much appreciated. Thanks

Michael

 

Hi Mike!

The GMAD Patch you are referring to was the second variation developed by GMAD in an attempt to find a likeable mascot that the plant workforce would embrace. The First attempt at a mascot was an Ant dressed as a worker named "pace". This was followed by Snuffy Smith in a tip of the hat to the workers and the shared heritage of the general area. King features syndicate granted the rights for use also.

Prior to 1982 Norwood-due to its proximity to IMS either built the actual pace cars or the chevrolet support vehicles for the commitment vehicle fleet. That is where it got the term the "Pacer plant"

Look for me at the Vehicle Exhibition showcase area. I would like to say hello to you and your Grandfather and thank him for making some of the greatest cars ever built.

 

Hi Norwood CPC, thanks so much for writing back to me and really helping me out on some information that I have been searching for! A few other questions if you dont mind..... First, just to confirm this GMAD patch is deffintly one worn by the workers at the Norwood plant and was this type I am assuming wore on a jacket either on the shoulder or front? I am assuming from what you are explaining to me that they used Snuffy Smith as a mascot as a example of the Norwood Work force with a lot of them being from the country (south)? What time period is this patch from, I am assuming early 1980's? What is IMS as you referred to? and finally you quoted "King features syndicate granted the rights for use also." Forgive me, but what do you mean by that, sorry....... Thanks again for all your help and this is actually my wifes grandfather, he will be there along with myself, my wife and some of his family. He started there I think in 1957 and was one of the last out of the door when the plant closed. Thanks

Michael

 

Mike,

The GMAD Patch was worn on Jackets chest and arm (both locations)

The large round multi-state patch was issued in 1982 and also worn on jackets. There were others too such as the "Up with Snuffy" patch that was smaller and could be used on the arm too.

King Features Syndicate was the comic strip company that owns the rights to the Snuffy Smith image and GM had to seek permission to use Snuffy as a mascot for the plant.

IMS = Indianapolis Motor Speedway the home of the Indy 500 which used pace cars to get the race cars off to the flying start and to also set the pace of the race for flag controlled restarts.

 

CPC Norwood, once again thank you for all your help, so many of my questions answered! So in fact, they used Snuffy Smith cause of Norwood's workers being from the South (country) which I assume kind of went along with the character, correct? did all plants have their own mascots? When did the Norwood plant become CPC or was it always? and finally I noticed that the patch has Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana on it, any perticular reason why? Thanks again and look forward to hopefully meeting you.

Michael

 

Mike,

Norwood workers were traditionally recruited from the rural areas which included Ohio and "Kentuckyanna" meaning workers made the trip to work at the plant from all three states.

CPC group took over the plant in the mid 1980's as part of the big GM restructuring that eliminated GMAD.

 

Hi thanks so much for all your detailed answers and sorry for all the long questions. I am just very curious about all this. So here are my final questions on all this, first, what type of jacket we're these patches worn on? Did it vary from person to person? Did the plant give them the patch with the jacket or just the patch by itself? Was the GM assembly patch wore with the snuffy patch as well? And finally, did any of the other plants have mascots and was snuffy chosen for Norwood because of the southern country workers? Thank you!

 

Mike,

The patches were issued loose and could be added to any jacket that the employee elected to use. For VIP's such as the author of the article "present at the creation" a decorated jacket was provided.

Snuffy was a tribute to the collective heritage of the workforce as the areas surrounding the city were rural with mining and farming as occupations outside of industry.

There were mascots at other plants... Notable is the team #1 caped super hero used at the manufacturing plants.

 

Thanks! Was the GM assembly patch that I provided in the picture worn at the Norwood plant as well the same time as the gmad patch was?

 

Yes. Both originally were GMAD promotions.

CPC later also used the round emblem with snuffy and the tri state also.

 

Thank you so much for all hour help, hope to see you soon!

 

By the way do you have any extra or any Norwood GM stuff for sale or that you would be willing to part with? I do know most guys wanna hang on to there stuff but thought I would ask thanks!

 

I will defiantly let you know!

 

CPC Norwood, first I just want to give you a big thanks for answering so many questions that I have been curious about for a long time now, thank you! You might have noticed that I am only 28 and remember just very little of the Norwood GM Plant so it is deffintly something I am very interested in learning about. However, I have a couple more quick questions for you if you dont mind. First, I have attached here a couple different CPC patches that I am debating on purchasing. I am curious though, when the GM plant went to CPC what did the workers patches look like? do the following attached pictures look like any of the ones worn by the Norwood workers and did the patch say NORWOOD on it or was it just plain CPC? What were these worn on, work shirts, or jackets, or both? And finally the event in Norwood on Friday August 24th that is only for people who are entering a car, right? Just curious if my wife's grandfather can come or not as he does not have a car to enter. Thanks and hope all is well!


Michael

 

Hi Mike.

The Friday event is for the car owners. The CPC Norwood patch was a combination patch that was unique to Norwood. If I get a chance over the next few days I will get an image posted for you.

Thanks.

 

So they want Norwood cars to show up but they don't want you at the party? Or did they reject your specific car?