I look at that building and think the same thing I do every time I see a rusted out POS, "Man, that could be so cool... I could do it..." But then the more reasonable side of me always kicks in saying to kick it down and start fresh. Too bad I don't usually listen to my reasonable side.
There are lots of homeless people around here. Just last year, there were 'tent cities' that folks inhabited because of eviction, foreclosure, etc. Some of these folks went to a daily job, coming 'home' to a Big 5 tent, their belongings rifled through while they were out working... A couple of guys I knew both lost their homes; one in a divorce, the other due to foreclosure, (B of A doubled payments when values decreased) they had car projects. They rented a shop in East San Jose, in the old commercial part...had an office, rest room, hot & cold water, and 1500 square feet of floor space. Landlord was receptive to their 'staying there at night', as there had been burglaries, vandalism, etc. I visited one day, they were installing a shower stall. They had converted the office to a kitchen and office combined, it was nice...reminded me of Dan Tanna, the P.I. who drove his '57 T Bird right into his bedroom. Friends of mine live in their shops, a few more now that we have the 'change'... I'd do it again, anything were to happen...
What a video. Wow. Gets to you, for sure! Seeing the Packard Plant (or any old, empty, deteriorating US manufacturing facility) brings about some strong emotions in a lot of folks. Especially those of us who grew up around them and witnessed the birth of the Rust Belt first hand. What really pisses me off more though is folks talking shit and blaming the American working man for the decline of American manufacturing. And the Packard plant is a perfect example. Packard didn't fail because the worker out on the line didn't do his job. Packard failed because management didn't give the car buying public what they wanted.
I've recently become fascinated with detroit, past and present. It's fair to say, henry ford and detroit are directly responsible for the rise of the middle class in America. That said, how on earth could it possibly have fallen so far so fast? The next question is, How do we revive it? It's pretty clear by now that as goes Detroit, so goes the nation.
This was a cool video. It did truely hit the mark spot on with "mixed emotions". Too bad the director/producer did not comingle some historical footage of the Packard plant during its hay day. Thanks tony
Sad to see some people don't see thru all the false statements made by CEOs. The overall cost of labor is a very small part of most industry. I work at a very large steel mill. Us employees make very good wages, have good benefits, and a decent retirement if you put in enough years. Can you imagine what cost that is to our company? .........4%-5%. YES, you read it correct. For every ton of iron we make 4-5% is the cost for employees (and this includes management). Now granted when you are talking about millions of dollars per month 4%-5% might be a few hundred thousand dollars but IT IS CORPORATE GREED. The companies are not statisfied making $92,000,000 a quarter if it could have been $94,000,000 by cutting employees wages and benefits. Chinese companies make their profit by poluting the enviroment (to the point of destroying their own water supply) , forcing children to work (11 and 12 year olds working 50 hrs per week), and violating the rest of worlds trade laws (copyright infringment). It is sad to think any American could even start to suggest that it is the workers fault because they demand "living wages"!
Since I was there in Febuary for the Autorama, I finally get it. There is so much automotive history there it's really hard to grasp unless you have seen it. The Packard is a really historical building, but just one of a THOUSAND really cool vacant buildings in downtown Detroit. It's a ghost town.... The chances of Detroit ever making a comeback is not even the issue. Detroit never left, it's still there. What left are the millions of people and unlimited funds that fueled the auto industry back in the day. The streets thru Detroit are 8 lanes wide, with no cars on them. The vacant buildings are endless. It goes on for MILES, literally. It is really unbelievable to see for a southern boy.... Nothing stays vacant here for a week, let alone years. It's like one friday, everyone went home for the weekend, and never came back.... Weird.
Finally watched this, albeit with the sound off. Awesome video. Really shows what we have become. I love those buildings, but I don't know if I could live there. Nice work, Ryan.
Well that's good to know I also live in a old ru down warehouse that's about 4000 sqft I have a bathroom w/shower ,kitchen and I turned the upstairs office into my bed room/living room down stairs in the main garage I have all sorts of projects cars and trucks ranging from the 30s to mid 60s some are not mine some are friends I offered to help out because the help out we ate just now putting together a gasser race team. We also mess around with making cycles fast. Are goal is to try and build hotrods and cycles on a budget for everyworking man no glam no bull shit just barebones and fast as possible. I don't do what I do to make money just to make a living and if that's just putting a smile on my face watch a friend or customer drive off in something I built I don't care if I'm still broke as long as I'm happy. I named the shop "cast iron speed shop" trying to build things with tradition intentions but keeping things on a budget searching threw junk yards or building things from scratch il try to post pics later of my work shop
I worked in Detroit from 83-85 in on Ryan, Here's what the building looks like today. It was sort of run down even back then. The adjoining part of the building was empty even then. Second to California, Detroit has the largest amount of Craftsman style homes in the country.
This is a short film with Johnny Knoxville I'm not sure if any one posted it yet but it's a good film to be viewed to see what ppl are trying to do to bring back Detroit in their own way http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joMysMDHdb4&sns=em
Great video. Having grown up in Detroit, the hardest thing to get your head around, is the contrasts between "then & now": Albert Kahn built the 1st skyscraper here, the Chrysler Highland Park plant. He just turned the model on its side! Around the time of the Great Depression, Detroit had more skyscrapers than Chicago. The stunning amount of locally made armaments for WW2. In the late 50's & early 60's folks from Toronto used to vacation in Detroit because of the vibrant theater district, shopping, & nightlife. Oblivious decline around them, the art & music scene here is experiencing a healthy resurgence! Since ALL city & neighborhood gentrification follows the movement of the artsy-fartsy crowd, it offers some hope for the future. Detroit can only succeed, if the Feds keep jailing Detroit's crooked politicians, like they should have been doing for the last 30 years!!!
It would be nice to see at least part of that plant restored and preserved.. but if Detroit DOES rise again.. it will most likely be leveled and something else will go in it's place. Pretty depressing film. You know that it's just a matter of time when both this ol' guy and that building are no more.
While it's nice to remember the "good ol days", and I'm as nostalgic as the next guy so I'm guilty, the real truth is that better is indeed better. What would a modern Packard look like? A plastic easter egg with millions of dollars in R&D required by the feds for safety. It's what the industry has come to driven by federal and customer demand. As far as the ol guy living there, I can relate to the solitude but not the conditions. He lives like a sheeny. Is Motown crumbling? Fuckin eh right it is and it's occupants and residents don't have the will or income for a restoration. Now we can all pick a finger to point and develop a theory, but the reality is that cars are truly better in many ways. People don't get crushed by the drivetrain or fly through windshields at 35MPH like they used to. 25MPG is common even in cars that can top 140MPH. Would I drive a Packard as a daily? Probably not. Fun as it may seem, I'd need 1/3 of that warehouse space for spare parts and maintainence. Corporations greedy? Well duuuhhhh... What's their job? Oh yeah, make a profit for their shareholders who've invested in them. Don't point your finger too long at the auto industry though. When there's 5 and 6 figure mark ups on meds, when oil companies set the highest profits in buisness history, when they're allowed to buy laws to make even higher profits by calling the entity a "person". Back on topic, I live and work in solitude from about 10am to 9pm most every day this year. It's not all bad, but it's a bit over rated sometimes. My dog and my radio, my grinders and welder, nobody to babysit. Well maybe it's not over rated...
I also am a life long resident of S.E. michigan I grew up a mile and a half from fords famous rouge plant I used to ride my bicycle in the woods surrounding the big uniroyal tire I m sick of watching BLIGHT in the city and SE mich Im sorry .... get car clubs to install plumbing for this hermit? why? the city water and sewer taps are still run to the building ... the buildings owner is too cheap to hook up a water meeter!
Well said I have seen the Johnny Knoxville clip also. It is a great piece and gives me a lot of respect for that guy. For anyone interested, another link with some historical photos from and of the Packard Plant: http://detroiturbex.com/content/industry/packard/index.html
Ryan here is a video with +/- views of Det and the mid west in general. Johnny Knoxville's video, are the positive side of the story. I watched all three on Utube. I also watch CBC TV out of Canada, to see how we are looked at from outside looking in. Remember I lived in the Detroit area for 42 years. this is a video of Detroit, from our friends across the border, in Canada. Watch it to the end, of the video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NL_YdRxBhzI&feature=related .
The mere fact that this facility was allowed to decay totally baffles me.Somebody could have turned it into a multi-company complex.As Jed would say "Pitiful,just pitiful".
Forget the steel industry and get back to the auto industry, which is what this thread is about. Union GREED (i.e. UAW) has killed, and is killing, our auto industry. Labor is more than just wages, it's also benefits. The costs of union labor benefits adds significantly to the cost of each car. UAW workers make far more than a "living wage" and, in fact, far more than the average American. A huge part of the reason why Detroit looks the way it does (in addition to its corrupt gov't).
It would be cool to see it turn into some kind of a car museum or hot rod Haven mega shop.... Somebody with some bucks needs to snatch it up. Unfortunately.. that is not me.. lol.
You couldn't be more wrong or off-target in your anger. From Factcheck dot org... Fact: Labor costs only account for about 10 percent of the cost of producing a vehicle. And it’s not the cost of American cars that people complain about; they’re already often thousands of dollars less than their Japanese counterparts. Quoting: Toyota workers earn more than employees of U.S. domestic automakers: In 2006, at Toyota’s Georgetown, Ky., plant, workers averaged more in base pay and bonuses than UAW members at Ford, General Motors and Daimler Chrysler, according to the Detroit Free Press. http://factcheck.org/2008/12/auto-worker-salaries/
No doubt... There is a front and back to every story... Main stream Media is portraying something you can always know is not the case when you get there... Anyway, there is so much b.s. in the world that you just gotta get up, go down there and see for yourself. I promise your viewpoint will change. Yeah "I'm from Detroit" incites fear in many, but it is in part because Detroiters persevere against odds that most would not begin to entertain.... and get real tough doing it. I look for the day (not far off) When so much of it is abandon (1/3 in 1990, 2/3 in 2012) that entire groups could come in whole regions and "homestead" if you will... Like we did after Lewis and Clark out west - yup, the new frontier - the inner city... If we can get orgnized politics and corruption out of the place so there really is no one that cares at all about it, Then charter control of entire zones with functional guidelines and enforcable accountability - devoid of corruption - then we have a chance. .... and you notice I said all that and did not talk about race... That is because it is simply not about race.
The Jalopy Journal
