Up From Clay - A Car is Born in 1959
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- čas přidán 6. 06. 2013
- A General Motors film that delves into how a car goes from a clay model to being mass produced - GM Styling and Fisher Body create cars in 1959.
We see how designers and engineers take drawings turn them into clay mock ups and translate it into the tooling that will stamp steel and determine how all the steel, glass, rubber, fabrics and more will be turned into a brand new automobile.
We also see how these cars are put through their paces on the test track.
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Ref: S145 - Auta a dopravní prostředky
Back then body styles changed radically every year. Amazing amount of styling, engineering and tooling work to with no CAD.
@Adrian Vegas Thank you Capt Obvious for missing my point.
This is so amazing! My great grandfather is at the 7:00 mark. What a great record.
How lovely.
That's my mother @19:45!
Wow, so cool!!@@bobjohnson205
WOW!, so many people working to bring quality cars to Customers.
I remember my Dad owning 1963 Chevrolet Impala and Fisher logo on car.
Very cool Video.
While I was watching this, I was thinking, man, some of these of folks are so old at the time of the film while others are so young and probably still alive today. So many generations in this film. Back in the day when old folks and young people had so much more in common with each other.
Wonderful... I have a 1959 Chevrolet Impala, now I know how she was made and all the process... I love it ! Very touching !
(Sorry for my bad english, I'm french)
@Célia Huart No need to apologize for your well written English! It is better then how most North Americans write these days, my self included!
Yep you sure do know how it was made lots of work went into it.
👍Congrulations 👏👏 1959 Chevrolet Impala is a just star of the all the times of the WORLD It ‘S have a legend lines.... 🙋♂️👋👋
I once had a Roman Red Sport Coupe with 348, factory air conditioning... .
I do also and I'm grateful 🙏 for it
My father, a loyal Chevy guy at the time, purchased a new 1959 Bel Air when I was 3 years old. Dad told me years later that the car was a lemon and he had kept it less than a year. I remember being fascinated by the fins. Still am.
I was watching the way that car wobbled as it traveled across a flat road, it looked heavy and not very aero dynamic.
1959 Chevrolet had "wings".....1959 Cadillac had "fins".......one goes out side ways - the other goes up and down......hopefully, you're not still confused.....
This has to be the best film I've ever seen on the automobile manufacturing process of the era. Impressed immediately by the sound quality, even moreso by the GM Photographic production credits, I'm almost speechless. Thank you for bringing the subject to light.
"Up From Clay" should be required viewing for any college or trade school-level automotive course of study, if only to show how handwork was still an important component of the early days of automation. The soft trim section in particular is fascinating with its acres of upholstery and industrial sewing machines. Much of that fabulous, colorful upholstery was woven in long-closed textile mills within an hour of where I live.
Anyone remotely interested in old cars and their restoration should watch, also, as it sheds an ironic light on the tired catchphrase, "Restored just as it was from the factory." I mean, doesn't everyone have a couple of giant Danly 2,500-ton presses laying around their shop?
Granted, most cars today are restored with time and attention way beyond any factory's scope (that doesn't mean they're better), but "Up From Clay" surely proves the point that, "They're only original once."
I finally know how body dies are made and other things. And I love the Ren & Stimpy music.
The design of the full-size 1959 GM cars (all five divisions) was an expedited engineering program in response to Chrysler Corporation's revolutionary 1957 designs. The original plans were for a warmed over 1958 facelift.
Wow, I didn't know that.
I heard that when the head of GM styling saw the Chrysler "Forward Look" '57 lineup he told his group, "You can all resign now."
Bill Mitchell orchestrated the redesign because his boss Harley Earl was in Europe during Summer 1956.@@TPOrchestra
What a magnificent example of brilliant engineering.
Absolutely fascinating! And to think, they used to change styling every year! The mind boggles.
I looked up the guy narrating. He was only 54 here! He died in 1966 at the age of 61. On a brighter note, terrific video! I was not even age one!
Beautiful icons of our country's transportation history!
Love the 59 Chevrolet's I had 3 all 2 door Impala's, it was my first car in 1977 I had a 2nd one in 1979 & a 3rd one in 1998. I've owned other cars like the 57 & 60 Chevy's but the 59 is the year that does it for me. The 59's were exhillarating & would make my heart race because they're such a rare site today. I remember as a kid in the 1960's when the 59 Chevrolets were everywhere.
Great video!!! I've always been impressed by the engineers, draftsmen, and workers from WWII to the 60's where they did things with pencil , paper and a slide rule!!!! No computers, CAD, ....they designed, made jigs, made prototypes....for thousands of parts ....and then designed assembly lines...hired workers ...people to design the processes ...and train them !!! Then coordinate all the shipping , stocking , transportation....work schedules, etc. Lets not forget that each brand had dozens of vehicles , and body types in each model (coupes, sedans, 2 doors, 4 doors, convertibles, station wagons , etc).......PLUS ....dozens of interior colors and patterns (not just black or tan!!!)....had to inventory them too...without computers!!! AND ....then changed the COMPLETE DESIGNS EVERY YEAR (bodies, frames , trim, engines, and transmissions, ...every nut and bolt!!!). We need to stop and appreciate they're work , when we see one of these cars ....I do !!! Sadly, most of these people have died ...all thats left is for us to enjoy they're work ...and appreciate what they did! And today we can't get shipping containers unloaded and transferred from ships from China?!
Totally agree. Much of the logistics, design and production of complicated vehicles, was surely learned in WW 2, producing complicated planes, engines, and countless pieces of war material in record time. I know most of younger generation would not believe it, but in the Sixties and Seventies, one could go to an auto dealership and order the exact auto one wanted, the body color, interior color and materials, automatic gadgets, or plain Janes,all the bells, or no whistles, order was sent to Detroit, and the exact model you ordered was built on the assembly line per your exact specifications. Pretty amazing 🤩
That, is quality craftsmanship! The cars were even a great deal and value. You would think they would cost more with all the goes into them back then.
A truly fascinating industrial video. Too bad so much of it has changed. I really like the work discipline of the engineers, the guys at the stamp plant, and the women doing all the sewing. Back in 1963 as a young boy I was fascinated by cars and this film footage keeps up this enthusiasm of mine. The early 1960s cars will always be my favorite. I also really liked the narrator who presented this video in a real good and properly enthusiastic style.
+tobacco72 Thanks for your comments. Much appreciated. There was a lot of pride and skill going into those cars.
I don't think that attention and care goes into cars anymore. Just look at the cheap plastic all over the insides of a car.
@@RivetGardener It's called gas mileage,these boats from the 50's/60's would get 5mpg,but at .20 cents a gallon no one cared. Try getting that mileage with gas at 3.00-4.00 per gallon.
@@bengus8148 TRY 12 TO 18 MPG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
MY DAD GOT 6 MPG PULLING A 3,000 LB CAMPER &
US 3 AT 65 MPH WITH AN 68 OLDS USING A 7.5 LITER
V8!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
are you 78 + 3 = 81 ?
A dress code was in effect in engineering at the time. A WHITE long-sleeved shirt and a necktie, or go home and get one. This was common at other corporations at the time.
made for pretty uncomfortable work.
Sounds terrible....
That's my great grandfather at the 7:00 mark! He was a wonderful man. So cool, thanks for sharing:)
The guy doing the chiselling?
Even though I don't see him in this film, my father worked at G.M. South Gate (CA) BOP assembly plant from 1955-1959. He said that in his first week of employment there, he lost 15 lbs. installing steering columns. He could definitely tell when they would speed up the line.
For those of you who love those 59 Impalas and Bel Airs, check out the film here on CZcams titled "1959 Bel Air versus 2009 Impala" to see how these beautiful steel masterpieces held up in the real world.
Prepared to be amazed.
Being born in 51 I grew up admiring these US automotive works of art, 55 to 65 are my favoured but some great looking mainly HP cars built into the seventies... No other Country in the World produced cars anything close to these,, Gas was cheap, times where good, If I could go back to these times I would end up insane wondering what to buy, 59 seemed the pinnacle of style gone mad but to me they were four wheeled beauty, were fun to drive especially on a bendy road with old cross ply tires, the brakes became useless, but the big engine loved it. Wrap me up and send me back...
Would be fun to be able to come and go. I'd miss the Internet and all the great shows on TV and a few other creature comforts but boy it would be fun to pick up one of these vehicles for so little and have a blast.
Yeh...I remember the oldies were a regular site on our roads, they were cool then as much as today.
25:49... Man, I guess respirators were under rated back then. Lacquer is so vintage now.
General Motors was the largest corporation on Earth at the time of this film.
Not true. AT&T was.
@@desertbob6835 Not even close. GM valued at nine and a half billion in 1959.
Man I miss the good ol days.
Mind-blowing how automated things were already in 1959
That's true, but more so how automated things were in the 1920's, Michael.
Yep...there is a video also on 1930s auto factories...lots of automation.
That always blows me away as well!
@@matrox I came here to say the same thing. 1936 was the year of that video.
Mind blowing we think they were retarded back then
We had a 1960 Impala coupe..... white with a red interior
I love the smell of lacquer in the morning never had to buy any alcohol after work used to call that a shot of rhythm and blues and reds and greens and so on and so on everyday I see a rainbow
Painting without mask !!!! Wow how things were back then !
THEY HAD A POWERFUL FILTERED VENTILATION SYSTEM; SERIOUSLY!!!!!!!!
Yeah , I noticed that. How long would those guys live ?
TheHelado36 yeap the also ate tons of bacon, those basterds!
There was no OSHA in the 1950’s.
@@fw1421 ......and alot of guys smoked filter less cigarettes then too!!!.
Everybody has wonderful nostalgia for old cars. They completely forget that those cars would be lucky to make it five years before they rusted out or the engine was completely shot or the entire car was completely worn out. Hitting 100k miles was an astonishment back then.
Back then it was more or less expected that you'd trade in every 2-3 years. Styles were always changing and you were expected to keep up with the current styles. That and most cars of that time, especially in areas where salt is used, were shot in 5 years anyway. For me, and probably most people, the nostalgia is for the styling of the past, not the build quality, safety and driveability.
Yes
Yep, There was a good reason why they called a lot of cars rust buckets back in the day. And really if you got 75,000 miles out of an engine without having to replace it or rebuild it. You were doing really good. Being born in 1951, I have seen a lot of rust buckets and a lot of worn out engines in cars that only had less than 80,000 miles on them.
Compare that to nowadays where some automobile engines can knock out 100,000 miles or more easily without major repairs and for the most part, major rust problems have all but been eliminated. That said, I can't help but be nostalgic about the styling wars of all the cars from the '50s, '60s and '70s. Every auto maker had their own idea of what style was and it was pretty exciting as a kid or a young man to see those. And yes cars last a long long time nowadays but the other side of that is to me they all look the same.
@@carlmontney7916I think the thing that played a big role on how long a engine lasted back then was how one’s driving habits along with changing the oil every 3 months or every 3,000 miles. Many people fell for the 5,000 to 6,000 mile oil changes (the oil change conspiracy isn’t entirely new) which wore out the engines sooner than necessary so they could sell you a new car sooner than necessary as well. Another example of ‘planned obsolescence’ at work though, this isn’t the typical planned obsolescence we are know of, but is one of those things where it’s at one’s discussion.
I think by the time the 1960’s came around, cars gradually began to last longer and longer since the tolerances were beginning to get better and better along with things becoming a bit more standardized. The ‘66 Ford Galaxie 500 I am goin to be getting (hopefully) has the 289 in it paired up with a C6 automatic, wouldn’t be surprised if it actually has 162,000 on it judging by the wear on the driver’s side of the seat and leaky transmission. Easily will make it to 200K once everything is fixed since the Ford 289 (same thing as the 302, just a slightly smaller displacement) was known for running for a long, long time.
The engines were less durable than todays but the body and frames were worlds better than the ones now ( with a few exceptions of bad paint batches in the early sixties)
Best Industrial Nostalgia Porn I've ever seen. Class A+.
True care and craftsmanship by dedicated people. From imagination to final assembly, inspiring!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Oh, to have one of those 59 Impalas!
That was an awesome movie, thank you for posting this!🚖🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
If I would have had You tube videos like this back in the early 90s I would of had a easy A in some classes. Sure its a bit outdated but many processes are probably still in use today.
Back when the trunk was the size of a small apartment...🤣
No Lie! A friend's dad had that '59 Buick. We went camping once with another kid. The dad was in a pup tent by the fire, my friend got the front seat, I got the back and the 3rd kid got the trunk which was probably the best of lot.
Love the old videos im a 4th generation autoworker here in detroit ive worked in the glass plant parts depot and assembly plant those boys on that assembly line are defiantly putting in some work by far harder and more harsh on your body than any other plants makes me proud to see the vehicle's ya build on the roads
Thanks for sharing..the 59 Impala is my absolute GM favorite..
Take a look at the '59 Buick Invicta and compare to a
'59 Chevrolet Impala
I like the 58 and 59 Impalas both about equally. They kinda xmessed it up in 1960 but the 61s are nice. 61 is when the SS Package became available. The 409 also became available that year.
Thats a absolutely fantastic video clip.
A rare insight to many trade secrets to most of us within the restoration crowd cherish.
Thanks so much for sharing
Cheers Tim.
Thank you Tim for watching and for your kind words and support.
What amazing times, the amount of employed people and i like how everyone were wearing ties and also had a sense of pride
In the mid-60s I toured the GM plant at Fremont, CA. I was about 10 year old at the time. I thought the coolest part of the factory was the mass quantity of employee snack vending machines.
Then, as now, we only get 2 ten minute breaks and 24 minutes for lunch. There’s no time to go out for lunch
Wow, America was so strong back then. The power of industry was unmatched in the world.
i still drive gm. ready to get my corvairs out soon
Millennials today hate anything that says Made in America.
I drive a 17 SS Camaro
And while the Soviets launched the first orbital vehicle (Sputnik) in 1957, industrial and technical talent in the United States at the time was sculpting tail fins on cars for consumer appeal...
lar4305 the economic incentives were completely different back then, companies were taxed incredibly severely on profits, the way they were encouraged to avoid this was by investing in new facilities and machines. These days there’s no incentive to expand, the only thing that is incentivised is for the executives to give themselves more money.
Screw it ! I'm going back to using my pocket protector even if nobody else does. It's a sign of extreme knowledge and damn it, just looks groovy.
Great shot at planned obsolescence!
These people take pride in workmanship.
28:31 the shipping crate - Yutivo was a 3rd party family-owned plant in the Philippines (they produced mostly GM but there were a few one-offs), in the late 60s they assembled a few hundred Camaros . Port Elizabeth got mostly V-8 engines for the Holdens.
We really had some beautiful cars back then and each was easy to repair and maintain and could be had for less than 3000$ for some models. Boy are we screwed up now~!!!!!!!
The video is really enlightening and historically fascinating. Unlike the Presenter. His EC (Excitement Component) fell on the floor during his own assembly line. Love that mid-50's pseudo-Jazz with the drug induced bassoon player in the background music. Yeah baby.
Would have been nice to be able to at least hear what the guy was saying. The sound was warbly from start to finish. 😿
But the vintage footage was great!! 😇
That woman at 21:05 is sporting some cool saddle shoes.
Damn , can't believe someone else noticed that ! Yea. I bet she was the tomcat of her department.
The first clay work shown is for Buick, Makes sense. ALL five mainstream GM car lines for 1959 were based off of the Buick design!
This film is so old but at the same time, there are people in this film that are probably still alive!!! Some of the young girls sewing and young guys doing the trim work or scheduleing, they couldn't be much older than 20 years old in this film at time.
GM had to really do some number crunching to figure out a profit with all that machinery and man power invested. awesome video. thanks King Rose Archives. :)
+69roadr Volume helped.
Thanks for loading up this video! I like it.
What a beautiful car.
ıt’s a wonderfull car of all the times of the world 👍👏👏 I will always love it. ❤️❤️ Love from Türkiye ❤️💐❤️
Outstanding doc.
The '59 is a beauty. What it must have been like to drive one off the dealer lot brand new, wow.
+Martin Beneteau The only year with the cat eye taillights
I’m building a 2 door 1960 Chevrolet Biscayne, very similar to these ‘59’s, but mine is full custom. My car is 59 years old. 🇺🇸😎
I joined the Army in 1978. When I got to Germany, one of the guys in my squad had worked for GM as a draftsman. Back then GM had its own training program for skilled workers like die makers and body engineers. I got in (and got exempted from the draft) out of high school.
He said working as a low-level draftsman was the most frustrating job you could imagine. He would work on one part of a car, revised the drawings over and over and over.
The last straw for him was the Monza. He designed the metal piece of the dashboard that held the instrument cluster. He did nothing but revise that drawing for a year. After that, he quit and joined the Army.
IN 1979, everyone he worked with had been laid off. So he got the last laugh.
Body by Fisher was an interesting place. Love the video
Amazing learning video.
Amazing what was accomplished without the modern technology. These mass produced cars basically have their origins in handmade craftsmanship and design. Mind boggling!
God I love this videos, thanks KRA.
Wonderful video.
To think- all this human ingenuity, expense, and effort was hardly in existence only 20 years later. Today, more than 99.999% of all this production has been crushed, shredded, melted and recycled.
Fascinating. And yet most would rust away less than 10 years later.
This is not an 80's car
Glenn Havinoviski, most people would trade in their car for new one every three to five years back in those days They were never designed with ten year durability in mind.
@@lrg3834 My Dad allways kept a car 10 yerar
@@raysitzes2455 , your dad obviously took very good care of his automobiles. I applaud that. Personally, I have two trucks, one that is 24 years old, the other 14.
@@lrg3834 then He bought a 62 comet total peace of junk He still kept it 10 years probably spent 60 thound dollars in repairs that taught Me a lesson when You get a total limon get rid of it something was allways wrong with it from the start put Me off fords for a long time
High all the time ,hope you all are too ! _ Rock and Roll hootchie coo !
Brilliant. I think they should show that as part of the induction to all new production employees. To give them an idea of where their parts go and the impact of poor quality down the line.
When cars were works of art.
Most of the cutting edge panel placement and welding technology shown in this video is still used today.
Oohhhh ! What a dream movie !!
I am real U.S. Car fan !
I have these virus from my dad !
He buy 1969 a 1961 cadillac fleetwood 60 special.
He sold this beauty and buy a 1964 buick skylark custom sports wagon in 1973.
Around 7 months after my birthday in nov. 1972.
Today in 2024 i own these buick.
and a 1960 cadillac de ville 4 door hardtop and a 1973 chevy caprice coupe !
That is so crazy to see this movie how tousend of peoples build these beautyfull creations.
In the 50ties was these thinks for the most peoples only cars !
Now in 2024 these cars all icons , legends of a great space age time, diner and rock n roll era !!
and sorry for my english !
I write this from germany !!
Fins and Chrome! Longer, Lower and Wider! ❤😊
When I was a kid a grew up in a 1958 Pontiac Safari Chieftain station wagon that was replaced with a non-descript ‘60s Chevrolet station wagon with the humdrum design and sloppy construction so typical of the era - and the start of Detroit’s downfall. In 1966 my dad, a mechanical engineer, bought a new VW Beetle. From then on the many cars he owned were imports: a string of Volvos, Toyota pickups, two Lexuses, and finally, a Honda Odyssey. I still have his 2008 RX350, which finally had its first repair: a water pump at 122,000 miles. I replaced the brake pads and rotors at 116,000 miles - for the first time. When I first saw the Body by Fisher tag on the door sill of that Pontiac I wondered why it depicted a horse-drawn carriage in the era of the “modern” automobile. GM meant to invoke an image of old-world craftsmanship, but instead was supplying bloated, inefficient designs that stopped and steered like boats. By the 1970s quality and engineering had plummeted to a point that my dad’s tectonic shift from domestic to imported nameplates merely mirrored what what was happening all over this country. Half a century later we’re still trying to catch up.
Great Video... Thanks For Sharing
Imagine doing an annual inventory at those factories :-)
EVERYONE loves inventory 🤪.
johnny cash took most of it to build his own cadillac lol, one piece at a time
This was the golden age of American autos
This spokesman is a gem. In voice, in body, this fellow must have been related to the Board of Directors. 😜
I just watched a 1957 Chrysler assembly video. They were welding the bodies with torches and stick rods on their production line.
GM was a pioneer in manufacturing until the late 1970's, early 1980's. When Rodger Smith took over, he kicked out the most highly paid (and experienced) engineers. GM when down the toilet because they lost their organizational knowledge. Nothing was written down, just guys with 30 years experience who would pass on what they knew to the new guys.
Took another 20-years to regain some of it.
21:08 dig those saddle shoes !
it would be nice to hear the man talking
They would never let such a dry, unenthusiastic guy do the narration nowadays--even if he was a senior VP like this guy.
+Rick Stenquist So what is your point??????
Rick Stenquist I agree. Gee, you think they could have chosen a more charasmatic personality, some on that was capable of a smile, and who could exude passion for the product.🤔🤔
@@paulpatriot1776
Public speakers back in the conformist 1950's were very reserved as they had to appeal to a broad much more conservative American culture. But if what you mean by "exude passion" is to sound like those announcers on those overly long and frequent "as seen on TV" commercials, I'll pass.
Back then you didn't have to dance and shout to get a point across.
This was NOT for public consumption, but for GM employees and dealers. It didn't need the kind of "hype" that advertising to the general public would require.
26:35 Hit the roof with the glass, good thing the weatherstripping was on the glass.
Look at those guys spraying paint without a mask
those guys spraying lacquer without any mask
I just ordered a 1959 Chevy from my neighborhood Chevy dealer.
matrox And you may just get it in 2059!
I heard that in 1950 the U.S. produced 70% of the automobiles & 50% goods in the world, sure drive through any rust belt town & see the remains is so sad. My dad retired from GE, a life long employee, I put a few years @ Fisher-body in Cleveland, & my favorited job still to this day :)
The main reason for our domination in the 50's and 60's was because a lot.of the civilized world was destroyed in ww2.
So sad to see all the shirtless with tattoos, meth and opiate addicts walking around my small hometown in Ohio on vacation. Walking around looking for something to steal, jobs available, but they cannot pass piss test. Funny, all on welfare and food stamps, but sure can cover whole body with tattoos.🤯🤪😴💀
At about 25:30 watch the workers spraying body panels with lacquer paint. No respiratory protection or outerwear in use. “Cough, Cough. Time for smoke break”
I was born n 59, I ain't no car !! I am a tank !!
So basically Fisher built almost all tools and basic parts for GM cars.
chevrolet impala what a merican beauty. i love this film and the GM design center.
I think the left and right channels are out of phase. When I only use one earbud the channels are mixed and cancell out but as soon as I take the left one out of the charger the sound is back to normal.
1959 Impala,the only year with the cat eye taillights.The 1959 Bel Air and El Camino had the cat eye taillights also
At 26:35 bang the rear screen smacks into the roof of that Chevy, 27:15 the seat gets rubbed against the door, there must have been so much damage done during assembly.
We had a production manager for the Willow Run plant at the Corvair convention. Not much good to say about Fisher body. Best thing happened was when the body manufacturing was combined under the General Motors Assembly Division. (GMAD) Fisher didn't talk to or care about the assembly plant. My Corvair's fitment on the body leaves a lot to be desired. Much worse than Fords and Mopars.
You can't hear it
Check the guys giving the body a coat of paint with no breathing protective devices.
It's air dry Lacquer. No toxic hardeners used.
That poor guy in the paint department breathing in lacquer day in and day out. The people here looked very machine-like. Still, this is impressive beyond anything I’ve seen.
Amazing back then that they were able to get away without aspirators for paint booths and that vehicles didn't pick up paint over spray from the car in front of a different colour.
Respirators, my dear fellow, RESPIRATORS.
Hey, Judge Reinhold's Buick from Fast Times at Ridgemont High, in clay!
We had a 4door 59 BelAir in green, just like the one at 27:40.😊
A close approximation of my first motoring experience at 10:00.
and at 8:10 an thereabouts.. sheesh.. They have nothing on my kid... THATS a real torture test lol
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