http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/Midwest/0....ap/index.html

DEARBORN, Michigan (AP) -- Ford Motor Co.'s oldest manufacturing plant, an 86-year-old factory built under the guidance of founder Henry Ford and later the birthplace of the iconic Mustang, made its final car Monday.

With the Wilson Pickett hit "Mustang Sally" blaring over a loudspeaker, hundreds of employees and retirees cheered and hugged as they watched the final car -- a crimson red Mustang convertible -- roll off the line.

"The Mustang has been with us for so long," said Rosa Smith, a 26-year Ford employee. "It is the car, the toy for the older generation and the sports car for the younger folks."

Ford is moving production of the Mustang from Dearborn, home to the company's headquarters, to a factory in Flat Rock, southwest of Detroit. It is part of a companywide effort to switch to lean and flexible manufacturing systems, allowing Ford to cut costs by $1.5 billion to $2 billion over the next decade.

Ford has built roughly 6.7 million Mustangs in Dearborn since the car's introduction in 1964. The Mustang is one of the most popular cars ever made, offering a combination of sporty looks and raw horsepower that has been enjoyed by generations of Americans.

Sitting next to the assembly line Monday was a cream-colored 1964 Mustang -- the first one to come off the line 40 years ago.

The closing comes just days after General Motors stopped production of the venerable Oldsmobile at its Lansing Car Assembly plant, which had produced them for nearly a century.

The Dearborn Assembly Plant simply outlived its usefulness, the company said. It has played a vital role in Ford's business since it opened in 1918, 15 years after Henry Ford founded the company.

For all its history of making some of America's most popular cars, the factory actually got its start producing submarine chasers, known as Eagle boats, for the U.S. government during World War I.

Over the next two decades, the plant was used to make the Model A, Fordson tractors and wooden body parts for the Model T.

The factory has produced Mercury models such as the Cougar and Capri and other Ford models including the Galaxie, Fairlane and Thunderbird.

 

let's make a move to quit making them...... period.

 

A piece of automotive history gone...........

 

very sad!

 

I can second that.

The plant closing is due to Ford's decreasing share in the passenger car market, right?

 

not too happy about your comment i grew up 1 mile from that plant i went to edsel ford high school, down the street this is very upsetting for some people .consider those who might be offended especially those who lost there job,so perhaps next time you want to make such a bold statment please keep it to yourself !!

 

I wondered about all the workers at that plant. From the article it seemed like the plant really was past its prime and wasnt worth working at anymore, and it also said that hundreds of workers cheered as the last car came off the line, so whether the workers got screwed I dont know. I do feel for the people who worked there, and hopefully ford did the right thing and offered them transfers to other plants. Even then workers might have to move. I dont know about that town, but that plant may have been the only thing keeping the town going.

 

I guess if the Mustang assembly line is moved to Flat Rock, Ford will have to find another plant to build the Mazda 6's it sells here in North America ( Ford, of course, owns Mazda...the former 626 was built there, along with some Ford products, and I don't know this for a fact, but I guess that Mazda 6's are also built there )

 

Not my problem. I don't like RUSTangs. get used to it..... it's JMO.

 

A good start!

 

 

Guys that's enough please.