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I always wondered how the GM/UAW strikes affected GM muscle car production during 1969-1970. How dis affect Ford ? Did the strike turn people off and affect overall production numbers ? Did the strike backlog and affect parts manufacturing and distribution ? Dis
d the strike lead to low muscle car production numbers for 1969-1970 ?
Not sure about 69-70 but I believe a strike delayed the introduction of the "colonnade" style A bodies until 1973. The were originally to come out in 1972.
I always wondered how the GM/UAW strikes affected GM muscle car production during 1969-1970. How dis affect Ford ? Did the strike turn people off and affect overall production numbers ? Did the strike backlog and affect parts manufacturing and distribution ? Dis
d the strike lead to low muscle car production numbers for 1969-1970 ?
the largest GM strike of the time started in September of 1970 and it lasted 67 days. This effected the 71 model year and as previously stated, delayed the switch to the new body style from 72 to 73.
Last edited by allyolds68; Jan 26, 2020 at 04:35 AM.
The biggest effect was on GM, not on the car buyers. GM was profoundly affected by the cost of the strike, so much so that they decided they would never again come to an impasse with the UAW--they would always settle ahead of that point, as the cost of a strike was too high.
My dad was ecstatic at the time. He had just bought a project house that summer (he fixed up houses as a hobby like we do cars) and was moaning about having to work all the time and didn't have time to work on his new project. Viola! Just like that, he had a lot of time to work on it. Which meant after school for an hour or so and weekends we had to help him. That sorta sucked. Child labor. No paycheck. I even went with him to the union hall to walk the picket line one day. What a mess that was. After it got into the second month, he started whining about when he'd be able to go back to work. The irony. We were at that point of wanting him to go back to work too!
But the good part about that particular house project, we'd get to go down to the mom & pop corner store while he was "slaving us" which sold those "Odd Rods" sticker card/bubble gum packs. Cheap fun and we would buy nearly all of the packs when they got them in. We stuck those stickers everywhere. Even in places we shouldn't. Anyone remember those? It was a pisser though that sometimes you'd buy a couple packs and have a bunch of repeats.
I use to have Corvettes. Had a 70,used, but I checked for info, about the car, and the numbers were down for Vetts, and they said it was the strike, that caused it. Also, not sure but wasn't that the reason the Camaro, when it came out was called a 70 1/2?
the numbers were down for ['70] Vetts, and they said it was the strike, that caused it. Also, not sure but wasn't that the reason the Camaro, when it came out was called a 70 1/2?
The redesigned 1970 Camaro wasn't ready at the start of the model year, so it was introduced as a 1970 1/2. Chevrolet decided to delay the 1970 Corvette as well so that the introduction dates matched, that was the reason Corvette production in 1970 was only 17,000 or so.
But the good part about that particular house project, we'd get to go down to the mom & pop corner store while he was "slaving us" which sold those "Odd Rods" sticker card/bubble gum packs. Cheap fun and we would buy nearly all of the packs when they got them in. We stuck those stickers everywhere. Even in places we shouldn't. Anyone remember those? It was a pisser though that sometimes you'd buy a couple packs and have a bunch of repeats.
The 69 Camaro had to be extended at the Norwood plant from July where they normally changed over and extended it to November 1969. This was an unplanned event. Thus, vendor contracts were hastily renewed for a few months to supply parts for the extra 69 production. Fisher Body screwed up because the body stampings failed and they had to rebuild the dies from the ground up causing significant delays. What this did was push 69 Camaro production totals to be the highest ever in the first gen, which if they would have had a normal year, the 69 would have been the lowest production 1st gen Camaro. Even though it's usually thought of as the most iconic and popular 1st gen Camaro. Go figure.
They finally started making the "new" Gen 2 Camaro in February 1970. Hence the "70 1/2" model year designation by the aficionados.
Interestingly, Fisher Body in Flint, MI went on a local strike from Sept 69- Feb '70, so it affected Chevelle and Monte Carlo production, too. But those were the days when GM had a huge market share. There were always going to be issues like that. Not like today.
The Corvette production delay initially arose from a May 1969 labor issue. My dad worked at the St. Louis plant and it seemed like in that time frame, even participating in the "big one" of 1970, they would strike at a drop of the hat. They had another strike in 1972 believe it or not. So it hit close to home. No 69 Corvettes were built in May of 69. The dispute was blamed for extending 69 Corvette production to the end of the year as well, and the 70 Corvette started production in January of '70. So even though both had production delays, they were at totally different plants and for totally different reasons.
I was in Viet Nam from August 1969 to August 1970. We had a guy there who was a little younger than me and came in country a few months later. He pondered and pondered about ordering a new car before he left country. They had some kind of program where you could order the car and it would be waiting for you when you returned. He finally decided on a 71 Nova with a 350 and a 4-speed. He was all excited about it and then the strike came and he never got the car.
delayed the switch to the new body style from 72 to 73.
The unintended side-effect of this was the addition, all these years later, of one more year of collectible Cutlasses and one more year of Cutlass convertibles. The '73s and later are far less collectible than the '72s and earlier. Had the strike not happened, it would be that the '72s and later are less collectible than the '71s and earlier.
And not just in delayed production, but quality of production as well. My father ordered a 1971 Custom Cruiser as soon as it was possible to do so at the local dealer, but the car's delivery was delayed by the strike. When it arrived, it was a mess. Several of the options he ordered, and I specifically remember cruise control, were missing and had to be installed by the dealer. The quality of the build left much to be desired, with poorly-fitted panels and, this always stick in my mind, when you closed any of the car's doors, rather than the satisfying thunk you expected, it always sounded like there was can of loose nails inside the door. He kept that car two years as it ran ok, and he bought another Custom Cruiser in 1973, which was a much better car.
In 1970 we were in high school and my friend talked his mother into buying a new 70 camaro with him, each paying half, he had an after school job. She would drive it to work and he got it nights and weekends. RS model with the LT-1 and 4 speed. His father picked it up at the dealer and brought it home. When Dave took it out for a drive it seemed..........off, from when he had test drove it at the dealer. He pulled over and popped the hood and it took him about one minute to find the secondaries had been disconnected at the carb. His dad was no dummy lol. Secondaries reconnected and back on the road burning rubber like it was meant to!
