CAMARO6 - View Single Post - Official: 6th Gen Camaro Production to Move to U.S. Lansing Grand River Plant

With envy · 12-20-2012, 01:31 AM

I am thrilled! This is huge news to me, because I have a very personal connection to Lansing: It's my home town!

I am a Michigan refugee.

I was born in Lansing. I graduated from high school right into the middle of the great recession, in the middle of Michigan, no less. My prospects were grim at best. I have memories of showing up to apply at a newly built restaurant that had advertised it was hiring, only to find a line outside that stretched down the block and around the corner. A hundred or so people for a handful of jobs that paid $3.35. By the late 80's I'd had enough. I did the same as so many before me, and left to find opportunity elsewhere.
A few years ago I went back to visit family. I discovered that the original Oldsmobile plant was being demolished. I stopped to watch the excavators pulling down the walls of the factory I remembered from my childhood. The factory with the giant red sign that proclaimed "Home of the Rocket Engine Olds!" Admittedly, I was never really that attached to Olds. Ironically, it was the a big part of the reason I chose a '69 Camaro as my first car. All the other kids I went to school with drove Cutlasses and 442s because their dads all worked for Olds. I was buying my own car with my own money, and I wanted to be different (but I didn't want a Ford), so I chose Chevrolet and Camaro. I bought my car in the shadow in that plant. And I have to confess that watching it being razed disturbed me almost to tears. It was if I was watching the death of my home.
With the future of the surrounding communities always in question, it's great to see something positive happen for a change. I know the Canadians are proud to build the Camaro, but I'm sure GM will continue to keep them busy, and they will build whatever nameplate they are given with the same pride and dedication. As to the right to work issue: I don't see that as any factor since the decision was probably made long before the vote, and GM has always been UAW, and will always be UAW.
And now I will soon be able to say that I was made in Lansing, just like my Camaro!

I wonder if I can get a sticker for that!?

12-20-2012, 01:31 AM	#111
With envy It's a Synergy thing.. Drives: 2010 Synergy Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Buckley, WA Posts: 1,587 View My Garage	I am thrilled! This is huge news to me, because I have a very personal connection to Lansing: It's my home town! I am a Michigan refugee. I was born in Lansing. I graduated from high school right into the middle of the great recession, in the middle of Michigan, no less. My prospects were grim at best. I have memories of showing up to apply at a newly built restaurant that had advertised it was hiring, only to find a line outside that stretched down the block and around the corner. A hundred or so people for a handful of jobs that paid $3.35. By the late 80's I'd had enough. I did the same as so many before me, and left to find opportunity elsewhere. A few years ago I went back to visit family. I discovered that the original Oldsmobile plant was being demolished. I stopped to watch the excavators pulling down the walls of the factory I remembered from my childhood. The factory with the giant red sign that proclaimed "Home of the Rocket Engine Olds!" Admittedly, I was never really that attached to Olds. Ironically, it was the a big part of the reason I chose a '69 Camaro as my first car. All the other kids I went to school with drove Cutlasses and 442s because their dads all worked for Olds. I was buying my own car with my own money, and I wanted to be different (but I didn't want a Ford), so I chose Chevrolet and Camaro. I bought my car in the shadow in that plant. And I have to confess that watching it being razed disturbed me almost to tears. It was if I was watching the death of my home. With the future of the surrounding communities always in question, it's great to see something positive happen for a change. I know the Canadians are proud to build the Camaro, but I'm sure GM will continue to keep them busy, and they will build whatever nameplate they are given with the same pride and dedication. As to the right to work issue: I don't see that as any factor since the decision was probably made long before the vote, and GM has always been UAW, and will always be UAW. And now I will soon be able to say that I was made in Lansing, just like my Camaro! I wonder if I can get a sticker for that!? __________________ It's a Camaro thing... Not everybody who drives a Camaro "gets it"...But everybody that "gets it", drives a Camaro! -GG