Rouge: Pictured in Its Prime

28. Final Assembly

28 FINAL ASSEMBLY The logistics of moving assembly lines had already been well developed by Ford at Highland Park and other assembly plants through the building of 15 million Model Ts by 1927. Rouge Plant assembly procedures incorporated all that previous experience together with modifications such as much more extensive conveyor systems and fewer men employed as stock chasers. Thousands of visitors to the Rouge enjoyed watching new Ford cars being assembled and driven off the end of the final assembly line. Occasionally, a customer would be allowed to witness his own car being assembled. Some customers insisted that the car they ordered not be assembled on either Friday or Monday — days when assembly-line workers might not be at their best. At times, the Rouge drive-away garage would be filled with newly assembled cars needing minor mechanical adjustment of some sort. Some of these ailments were corrected at the Rouge, and some were passed off to the local dealer to be included in preparation charges. In the new-car sales room, the delicate combination of odors emanating from the paints, upholstery, rubber, adhesives, and gasoline added up to that “new-car smell,” the aroma that tends to anesthetize the customer to whatever automotive ailments might exist. 177 179 A Tudor body is lowered onto a Ford V-8 chassis in June 1932. (833.57060-9) Opposite,top:A Model A Tudor,perhaps the first automobile assembled at the Rouge Plant. The Rouge had produced millions of Model T parts and assembled thousands of Fordson tractors, but the Model A was the first automobile assembled. Model Ts had not been assembled at the Rouge. Officially, Model A production started on November 1, 1927, but this photograph is dated October 21, 1927. (833.50034) Opposite, bottom: Early Model A vehicles are assembled on December 9, 1927, for a very anxious public. Close to 5 million Model As were built between 1928 and 1932, of which 100,000 are said still to exist.These 1928-model roadsters and sedans at the end of the final assembly line go next to the drive-away garage. (833.50425) 181 Above: Adjusting brakes on a standard 1938 Ford. (833.69215) Left: Adjusting headlights on a 1939 Mercury. (833.71108-6) Opposite, top: Body drop of a Tudor body onto a 1935 Ford V-8 chassis on December 1, 1934. (833.61119) Opposite, bottom: Ford V-8 final assembly line in July 1936. Note the worker in the trench beneath the truck. (833.66401) 182 Top:The end of one of the Ford Rouge final assembly lines, where 1940 model Fords are being inspected on December 28, 1939. (833.72878-B) Bottom: The Rouge drive-away garage in October 1939. (833.72557-A) ...