Jerry Garfield

May 1, 2004 

General Motors announced in December 2000 that the Oldsmobile line of vehicles would be discontinued sometime during the 2004 model year.

 

The dates of the end-of-production of the 2004 models was Bravada on January 16 and the Silhouette on March 26. GM, on purpose, decided that Oldsmobile production would end in the city it began, Lansing Michigan. A total of 35,229,218 Oldsmobiles were built since 1897and of those 14,458,756 were built in Lansing.

 

The weather was sunny, cool and windy. We arrived at the end of the line at about 9:30 AM. Production was stopped. There were about 500 people present. Most were South Plant employees. Also invited were local community leaders, media, other GM employees, which included me, and OCA members Steve Apking and Bill Szelag. The remaining GM Lansing area plant and office workers were invited to attend by watching closed circuit TV.

 

On April 29, 2004, at 10:00 AM, the last Oldsmobile built (VIN 1G3NF52E84C243165) drove off the assembly line of the South Assembly Plant of the Lansing Car Assembly complex. The driver was plant employee Rich Parr, front passenger was George Nanas, President of the Oldsmobile Dealer Council, backseat passengers were plant employees Al Cooper and Bill Schweitzer. All plant employees who worked on the last Alero had already signed their names to the under side of the hood and the rear compartment lid.  GM will retain ownership of the last Oldsmobile.

 

Presenters at the end-of-line ceremony were Amy Farmer, Plant Mgr, Officials of UAW Locals 602 and  652, and former Oldsmobile Gen. Mgr. Darwin Clark. Many of us, including me, had tears in our eyes. The final Final 500 Alero was then driven by Doug Stott, Oldsmobile Product Mgr, to the R.E.Olds Transportation Museum where it will be on display with all the other Final 500 models and significant older Oldsmobile models until August 31, 2004. About 20 Oldsmobiles belonging to OCA and Museum members were also on display outside the Museum.

 

By about 10:20 AM the formal ceremony was over. There was time for more photos and we had a photo taken of us standing behind the final Oldsmobile. Many of us continued to talk and mill around. A few minutes later we heard a car horn behind us. It was back to regular business – we were blocking a plant employee who was driving off a completed brand P car for shipment.

 

We then drove over to the R.E.Olds Transportation where we joined other active and retired Oldsmobile employees, OCA and Museum members for a wonderful afternoon of looking at Oldsmobiles and reminiscing. Helen Earley and Jim Walkinshaw were kept busy signing copies of their Oldsmobile history books.

 

In January 1984, with the creation of the BOC and CPC groups, like the other GM car divisions, Oldsmobile was reduced to a marketing division. With the creation of the GM Vehicle Sales, Service and Marketing (VSSM) group Oldsmobile Division as a “real” division ceased to exist. After that Oldsmobile was a small brand management team within the VSSM. Today there is one GM employee assigned to the phase out of Oldsmobile dealers. The only thing left now on a GM building in Lansing is the letters that spell Oldsmobile on the former administration building.

 

Those tears that I mentioned earlier were not just for the Oldsmobile line of vehicles. They were for the great and wonderful organization that I once was a part of that included Oldsmobile Division employees and Oldsmobile dealers and their employees.