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History / OriginalityGot a question about 1982-1992 Camaro or Firebird history? Have a question about original parts, options, RPO codes, when something was available, or how to document your car? Those questions, answers, and much more!
As most of you know, one of the main reasons I should have never sold my car, but also one that I wanted it back so badly, was my father. He was so instrumental in me getting it and helping all along the way, and for me getting employeed at GMAD Norwood. He will be 81 next week and God has truly blessed me that my parents are still around and healthy. I just finished having my heater core rebuilt and got it back in and all buttoned up last Wednesday, so I picked up Dad who hasnt seen the car since 2009, and we headed down to Norwood to look around at a place we both loved to work. I took the opportunity to redo a couple of photos we did in 1985. The IROC is in the exact same place as it was. This was right in front of what used to be the plant offices along the old Fisher Body side. I know the plant wasnt able to be updated to today's standards, but it is still sad every time I go by, remembering all the good times we had inside that building, with a great group of workers. Of course all the great cars that came out of that place. I love history and it sucks when a piece of history is removed.
In front of the Only piece of the plant left, one of the parking garages. This is the one I parked my IROC in every day...unless it rained..lol
This is where All Camaro and Firebirds were loaded and taken to the shipping lot.
That's awesome! My dad has always helped me work on my third-gens but he absolutely hates them. Lol.Calls my car the "Fantastic Plastic" That's a great photo shoot with your pops!
Very nice, thank you for sharing. I too have both of my parents who are well into their 80's and healthy. We are definitely blessed to still have them.
I got to visit the Norwood plant in early summer 1986. I lived in Sharonville at the time, from where my 1983 Z28 HO had recently been stolen. A neighbor, who drove a Mustang, worked at the plant, but it was a business acquaintance of mine who was a friend of one of the plant's Vice Presidents, and the VP walked us through the facility, where I got to meet and speak with several of the line workers. They were just wrapping-up 1986 and about to tool-up for 1987. Neither you nor your father look familiar to me, so I doubt I met either of you, but what did you and your father do there, if you don't mind me asking?
I got to visit the Norwood plant in early summer 1986. I lived in Sharonville at the time, from where my 1983 Z28 HO had recently been stolen. A neighbor, who drove a Mustang, worked at the plant, but it was a business acquaintance of mine who was a friend of one of the plant's Vice Presidents, and the VP walked us through the facility, where I got to meet and speak with several of the line workers. They were just wrapping-up 1986 and about to tool-up for 1987. Neither you nor your father look familiar to me, so I doubt I met either of you, but what did you and your father do there, if you don't mind me asking?
I worked as an ARO (Absentee replacement), so I got to work basically all over the plant. Spent a lot of time in hard trim, which was all the wiring, interior hardware, brackets, weather stripping, glass, hatch line sub assembly. My dad was a Maintenance Supervisor, who came out being a pipefitter and welder.
I remember one time I worked at driving cars off the final line to the Final Audit building. Most cars went over on the conveyer, but we drove a lot of them. The guy who "trained" me said if you wreck one, just get out and leave it, and walk away quickly so you dont get in trouble. Lol I never wrecked one, but that was the best job I ever got to do. The worst job was between hand sanding spots on the hoods in the Body Shop and one time a shipment of HVAC blower motor covers came in and werent fitting properly. The supplier had one of the bolt holes off a little. I had to hand file a truck load of those things. Factory work back then, we did most things by hand, leaning, bending, lifting etc...now most stations lift or lower the job to you, or you have some contraption you ride into the car to attach your part. We did things by hand and rubbed on the Ben Gay when we got home..lol
If you guys can make it please come to the Chicago MCACN show this coming November to meet Dan (Z28 COP) and get more Norwood assembly stories direct and in person.
Very nice, thank you for sharing! My dad is where my love of cars comes from. I have always been around them since I was little. He has been gone a few years now. I miss him and his car stories so much!
If you guys can make it please come to the Chicago MCACN show this coming November to meet Dan (Z28 COP) and get more Norwood assembly stories direct and in person.
Smith Road in Norwood, just off the Lateral 562. There is a great book out there titled Echoes of Norwood that has all the history of the plant, with lots of photos and shematics of the plant.
The Last Norwood Vehicle produced prior to plant closure (1987 Camaro IROCZ) has been located and restored. What follows is the story text as published in the 2017 MACAN showcase magazine which will start arriving later this week.
The 1987 closure of the original Camaro Production plant located in Norwood Ohio was the first in a series of plant closures through 1990 that were concluded with the last car produced being given away to one lucky employee.
The tradition started at Norwood and was announced to coincide with the production of the 8 millionth car assembled at the plant. All employees all received a special china plate decorated with an image of the plant designed by Norwood manager Art Flynn. According to Flynn “we needed to have a successful closure without harm to any of the employees”. “Not repeating the horror stories associated with what had transpired years earlier in Fremont California-was the objective-to that end we were successful”. The thought of giving away the last car was the idea of plant manager Herb Stone. Since taking over at Norwood as plant manager in late 1985-Stone was brimming with new ideas, the biggest idea was to try to build a team concept at the plant while maintaining the conventional labor relations model.
Stone also had other new ideas including the unusual request to Headquarters, to give a “unit” (the last car produced) away to a plant employee.
Initially GM brass had a level of skepticism with the request until the reasoning of the request was explained. According to Stone-“we wanted to keep the focus of the last car to the very end of the build out to be not just the “last car” but the prize car- the car to be given away to a lucky employee”. In this way Stone would focus the entire team an something positive. On July 31st 1987 GM headquarters approved the request. Shortly thereafter the announcement was made that a car would be given away and the car would be the actual last car produced-a fully optioned Camaro IROC Z28.
August 19th 1987 marked the date of the plant wide employee appreciation dinner, where the event was capped off with the award of the rights to the raffle car -the car that would be the last Camaro and the last car built at Norwood becoming the literal end of the uninterrupted succession of Camaro production spanning a full 20 years all the way back to the very first 1967 model.
Employee Wendell Spurlock had the lucky ticket to the car. Spurlock, a 19 year veteran of the lines had originally started working at Norwood in October 1968, and had worked in the body side trim and cushion areas ever since.
In the final days of the plant’s production-a subdued mood had taken over, with white carnations placed on the employee badge reader’s at the doors. On Monday August 24th as production of the last car was started body shop employee lay-off’s began with 300 employees being let go by the end of the day-early as the last car passed.
On Tuesday 900 more employees would get pink slipped. On Wednesday the final shift was much like any other worked with the exception of a lot of farewells and handshaking with a few tears as for many employees reality sank in that they would not see one another again.
On Wednesday evening employees started to gather outside the plant at around 7:00 PM with firecrackers being set off in the parking GM garage-while drivers of Camaros and Firebirds cruised up and down Smith road outside the plant laying on the horns and waving as they drove by. Many workers and family members wore black ribbons on their arms with a local local radio station running a remote broadcast-and handing out lollipops to children as the crowd swelled to over 300. As the time for the last car to reach the end of final line approached those assembled began to grow quiet and then slowly started to file inside to see the completion and award of the last car to be built.
Overall the last car would count as the 8,045,750th unit produced at the plant, ending a continuous GM production span dating back to 1923 in Norwood Ohio.
After Norwood Assembly was closed and most of the buildings demolished the car awarded to Mr. Spirlock was sold and drifted into obscurity only to be located 27 years later by Camaro Historian and author Phil Borris who undertook the daunting task of restoring the car.
The first public showing of the Last Norwood Camaro since restoration will be at MCACN 2017
Sure! Rekindle a love affair that happened 30years ago between me and her that turned out not to be after coming in second. What do I tell the 85 now? Lol Congrats! Thrilled for you that you found the ol girl. I thought she had been lost forever.
Been a long road huh Phil? Congratulations on all of the hard work!
Picture needs to be bigger and turned up....
So excited for you Phil!!! LOVE seeing it completed, it came out gorgeous, what a great job!!!!! Wish I could be there for the unveiling, hope to get out there next year. Looking forward to seeing many more pics of it in the days to come.
Did I miss something? Surely theres a post on here that explains the back story on the last Norwood car, instead of one picture inside of someone else's thread...? I can't find it.
I have always wondered if this car has ever been found. Im glad it has, but would be nice to have a thread of its own explaining the as-found condition and location along with restoration pics, etc.
Instead of reopening a 7 year old thread I decided to introduce the car as part of Dan's thread because I view the car through the lens of its significance as a final artifact from that assembly plant.
I have spent the better part of three years buying every NOS part I could find and reusing as much of the original hard and soft trim from the car as possible. The restoration was and is very costly... For example I have in excess of $3800.00 in reupholstering the seats alone, all using NOS 1987 fabric and materials. I have applied everything I learned restoring Gen1 and 2 cars(COPO's ZL-1, SS, z28 etc...) with respect to extreme research and accuracy in order to get the details right without over restoring the car.
Years ago I said I would never do a Third Gen car to this level...and I learned the hard way to never say never again.
I was aided in the restoration by the hundreds of still photographs of the car from virtually every angle at nearly every stage of assembly. Additionally there is a 45 minute in plant video showing the car being built.
All if this will be on display at MCACN and I would love to tell you about it in person. I hope you can attend the show.
