Sad picture. Detroit factory workers begin dismantling Packard assembly line ...
Posted on 01/21/2014 10:00:39 AM PST by nascarnation
Packard gave up on its automotive plant in Detroit in 1956, but the 3,500,000-square-foot complex of reinforced concrete remains - if only as remains. It is perhaps just as famous for being ruins as it was when it built cars, still attracting plenty of attention from entrepreneurs, paintballers, vandals and urban spelunkers.
Creative types love them some Packard Plant, too, evidenced by the short film produced by Cantini Pictures when they wanted to test out a homemade motorcycle and an aerial drone. The result is a few minutes of "motocross meets the monument."
Check it out in the video below. And in case it isn't obvious, you probably shouldn't try this at home... nor at the Packard plant. For a more traditional history with lots of photos, a piece in the Detroit Free Press can fill you in.
(Excerpt) Read more at autoblog.com ...
http://vimeo.com/82595547
Bump
I’m moving to Detroit. Only a matter of time. The only things missing from this vid are paintguns.
“What a dump.”
Sad state of disrepair and decay.
Best of luck. Maybe you can start a restoration revival of that once great place called Detroit.
Riding on that roof looks pretty scary. No telling when you’ll find a weak spot.
The sad thing about the Packard plant is that it had working businesses in it not much more than a decade ago. Scumbags on the city council saw a quick buck and let a chinese salvage company come in and start tearing out wiring and other useful metals.
I remember seeing an interview with a guy who was restoring classic cars in part of the building at the time. He said they were working like any other day and the lights went out. He went to find out what the deal was and a found that the city had cut the power so the salvage crew could get started.
Absolutely, maybe they could include this event in the X-games....
No, but I’d love to blog about it, if I could find a way to make money doing so. Some might object. ;)
Interesting background link in the article.
http://www.freep.com/article/20121202/NEWS01/312020100/History-Packard-Plant
The people who have been in charge of Detroit for the past thirty years should be caught, tried and hanged for what they did to the citizens of that city.
BTW the property has been sold.
http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2014/01/02/dilapidated-packard-plant-property-finally-sold/
Sad picture. Detroit factory workers begin dismantling Packard assembly line ...
Ping For Later Enjoyment!
From your link...
Fernando Palazuelo, of Peru, now owns the site — which spans more than 40 acres on Detroit’s east side.
The third-place bidder in a Wayne County auction, Palazuelo paid $405,000 — after two other bids fell through.
Amazing pic, like they were tearing out the line right after the final car passed by.
That is, I believe, the place where they built the Packard Merlin that powered my father’s P-51.
When his squadron went on sorties across the North Sea to Norway in the winter of 1944-45, they were told that if the engine failed, no one would come to look for them, because they’d be dead before the search planes got off the ground.
The Packard workers did their job well. If they had not, I would not be here. Sad to see this place in such a state of decay.
Just don’t excerpt!!
I’m fascinated with Detroit - the history and glory days. There has to be a way back.
a certain irony riding the Honda 2 stroke, through a collapsed American automotive plant.....
just sayin’
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