When General Motors moved production of the Corvette from St. Louis, Missouri to Bowling Green, Kentucky, no one could have foreseen the glorious days that lay ahead for “America’s Favorite Sports Car” and the city where it would be built.
Sure, the Corvette was coming off some of its highest production numbers ever when the move took place in 1981, with the 1979 model moving a record 53,807 units and the ensuing 1980 model not far behind at 40,614.
But now, believe it or not, the United Auto Workers Local 2164 is getting ready to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the move of the assembly plant to Bowling Green, which has undergone hundreds of millions of dollars worth of improvements in the past few years to manufacture the hot new mid-engine C8 Corvette Stingray.
That’s not to mention the construction of the National Corvette Museum and the Motorsports Park, just down the road from the assembly plant.
To mark this special occasion, the UAW Local 2164 will hold a party and picnic for workers at the union hall at 712 Plum Springs Loop on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
On tap will be food, games, door prizes, and live music for hourly workers at the assembly plant, which has overcome lots of adversity in the past two years because of the strike, pandemic, and parts shortages to still manage to roll out thousands of the world’s hottest new sports car, and thousands more are on the way in the coming years. Excitement is still growing around the C8, with Chevy announcing just this week that the Z06 will arrive soon as a 2023 model and other variants are rumored to be in the pipeline.
Looks like the greatest days for the Bowling Green plant could still lie ahead!
Congratulations to all the workers at the Bowling Green Assembly Plant, and our thanks to them – past and present – who have put their heart and soul into building the cars we love so much.
Source:
Bowling Green Daily News
Related:
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The Strike is Over as UAW Members Agree to New Four Year Labor Deal with GM
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That was a big move for Corvette and the many St. Louis Corvette workers who followed out to Bowling Green. I went to the plant in 2017 and built the Supercharged LT4 engine in my Z06 under the watchful eye of Sarah an UAW engine builder and then met dozens of UAW workers at the plant while they basically hand assembled my Z06. I watched as they meticulously assembled every other Corvette I watched that day. They all cared about the work they did and wanted to build the best product they possibly could. Congratulations to the UAW workers and the Corvette Management team for working to build the cars of our dreams.
Thank you for making dreams come true.
Now get back to work!!
UAW local at Bowling Green caused my C8 to be delayed 9 months. Ordered in July 2019 delivered 5 August 2020. Thank you Lady’s and Gentlemen,You build a great car when the Unionlet you get around to it! We only waited 50 years for the GM bean counter to let a mid engine Corvette be built, what is an extra 9 months?!
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