The story of Chrysler’s Windsor complex began in 1916, with Maxwell and Chalmers factories; Chrysler was created in 1925 (a year after they started making cars with that name) to purchase the assets of both Maxwell and Chalmers. “Plant One” on Tecumseh Road made trucks from 1931 to 1978, did Imperial quality assurance from 1980-83, and then closed.
We do not have the names for most of the people pictured here. These pictures are not in any particular order, for the most part (color comes first, then black and white). We welcome your input on who is in these images, and if anyone wants to volunteer to put them in order, we'd certainly appreciate the help.
Windsor Engine, or Plant 2, opened in 1938 and closed in 1980. It was south of the Windsor Assembly (Plant 3), which made cars until 1983, when it switched to minivans; it is still in use.
Plant 6, on Pillette Road, was built in 1974 to make B-vans; it closed in 2006 to avoid competing with the Sprinter.
Note: the man on the right in the three photos below, wearing glassses, is Danny Binks (identified by wapboy)
If you can tell us anything at all about these photos, we’d certainly appreciate it!
The first photo appears to be an LA-series 318 V8; starting in 1968, police versions could be painted orange. However, the other engines are blue—a color Chrysler started using for engines in 1970. In 1970 alone, the 318 LA was blue and the 318 police was H-orange while the 340 LA was red (this might be a red engine with inaccurate color rendering in the image). Around half the engines in this image are orange/red. In 1971, early LA engines could be red while late ones were blue; by 1972, all LA engines were blue. These color schemes might not be accurate for Canada, though.
The following one image is marked as being from Windsor Assembly, presumably before it switched to making minivans. The handwritten note says “Check your operation.” The teletyped words are not readable.
Below: Windsor Assembly
Making Mopar Vans in Windsor
Dodge B-van factory photos
Making Cars in Canada: Factory Photos
A pictorial with some captions
Making Minivans in Windsor
Chrysler factory photos
Mopar Engine-Based Windsor Factory Photos
Putting engines together in Canada
Off the Line: People Doing Other Things in Chrysler Canada Plants
A pictorial of the labs, factory, and computer control areas
Books by MoTales writer David Zatz
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