industry

orange star car from the 2006 Detroit Auto Show

Posted on January 8, 2007January 9, 2007 by Michigan in Pictures

orange star car, photo by Boston Fan in Michigan.

This Dodge Challenger concept car was the star of the 2006 Detroit Auto Show. It’s also part of a fantastic set of 2006 Detroit Auto Show photos. In addition to her camera, Sam brought her friend Dave (a “car fiend”) along and he offers commentary on the pictured cars. For this one, Dave says:

This car is an interesting design exercise. Unlike the new Mustang or Chevrolet’s Camaro concept, this design really does nothing to evolve the 1970s original. If Dodge produces this car, the response will be quite telling about the progression (or regression) of automotive design.

Dodge Challenger buffs might enjoy the Dodge Challenger home page, complete with history, photos and TV and magazine ads.

More coverage of the 2007 North American International Auto Show at Absolute Michigan.

PS: We’ll be posting an article on Absolute Michigan ~~a little later this morning~~ tomorrow with multimedia featuring this car and some other views from last year’s auto show that you have to see!!

Here’s the link to Detroit Auto Show Multimedia on Absolute Michigan! (be sure to check out those panorama tours at the full screen size – they are amazingly cool!!)

Empty warehouse in Detroit

Posted on November 30, 2006 by Michigan in Pictures

IMG_4124 by gp3photo

More great work on Flickr and at jgphotoworks.com.

Remembering the Flint Sit-Down Strike on a Labor Day

Posted on September 4, 2006August 31, 2017 by Michigan in Pictures

Flint Sit Down Strike

A movie produced by General Motors in 1936 called Master Hands that Christine Barry posted to her blog provided the impetus for today’s Labor Day holiday post. She dedicates it to her grandfather and it’s likely that many of us in Michigan have some relative who took some part (for or against) in the tumultuous labor struggles. Below are several links about Michigan’s most famous strike, the Flint Sitdown Strike of 1936-37 at GM’s Fisher Body #1 plant in Flint.

According to Remembering the Flint Sit-Down Strike at HistoricalVoices.org (an amazing web site that includes recordings of workers recalling the strike):

Working on the line at General Motors in Flint was a job many men needed desperately in the 1930’s, but it was also tremendously difficult. Terrible working conditions, combined with unfair and devious payroll practices, made the auto plants of Depression-era Flint into ripe locations for union organization.

The union was the United Auto Workers. The UAW pages on the 44-day strike that ended Feb. 11, 1937 say that it was the most pivitol event the early history of the UAW. The result was the first UAW contract with General Motors and the establishment of the UAW as the sole bargaining representative for GM workers. This account has a lot of details on the political events surrounding the strike.

A couple more excellent resources are Michigan Epic’s multimedia exploration of the Flint strike, The historic 1936-37 Flint auto plant strikes from the Detroit News, Wikipedia’s entry on the Flint Sit-Down Strike and this great slideshow of the monument commemorating the strike in Flint Sitdowners Memorial Park.
Note: The above photo is credited to the Walter P. Reuther Library of Wayne State University. The keen of eye will see that the striking workers are sitting on car seats.

Also check out The Reo Ramblers at the 1937 sit-down strike from Michigan in Pictures & the Archives of Michigan.