Flint, Michigan Auto Industry - Plant History - Fisher Body Division

Fisher Body Division

Flint Plant #1

This plant was located on South Saginaw Street, and manufactured Buick bodies and pressed-metal parts. GM bought the plant from Durant Motors before 1935; it had opened in the early 1920s as Durant Motors headquarters, producing the "Flint" car.

In 1984, Fisher #1 became BOC Flint Body Assembly. After Buick ceased building rear-wheel-drive cars and Buick City got underway, BOC Flint Body Assembly earned a reprieve by building bodies which were shipped to GM assembly operations in Pontiac, Michigan until the plant closed in December 1987. Most of it was demolished in 1988, except for portions which were gutted and transformed into the Great Lakes Technology Center; the original administration building remains intact. GM initially had substantial office and engineering operations at the GLTC (including AC Rochester world headquarters), but eventually transferred those staffs elsewhere.

Flint Plant #2

This plant opened on Van Slyke Road in 1947 (on the same site as the Chevrolet Assembly plant), and made Chevrolet bodies; it was dissolved in 1970.

Grand Blanc Plant/Grand Blanc Weld Tool Center

On South Saginaw Street, it manufactured pressed-metal parts. Opened in 1942, it originally built tanks for World War II and is still sometimes called the "Tank Plant". It was transferred to BOC in 1984, and later to the newly-formed Cadillac/Luxury Car Division (not to be confused with the Cadillac Motor Car Division). Most recently operated by the Metal Fabricating Division, this plant has recently all but eliminated its metal stamping operations and now serves as a corporation-wide weld-tooling center. According to GM’s website, 411 hourly and 29 salaried workers are at Grand Blanc today.