Today, Thursday, February 28, 2013 at 8:04 a.m., the last 2013 Corvette came off the line at
the Bowling Green Assembly Plant. The celebration was short lived, as less than
30 minutes after the last car was built, workers began remodeling the plant to
prepare for the launch of the all-new 2014 Corvette Stingray.
A total of 215,100 sixth-generation "C6" Corvettes
were made at Bowling Green since production began in 2005, the last of which
was the exclusive 2013 Corvette 427 Convertible Collector Edition outfitted
with the 60th Anniversary design package. This package boasts an Arctic White
exterior and a Blue Diamond leather-wrapped interior with suede-microfiber
accents.
At the heart of the 427 Convertible is the 7.0-liter (427
ci) LS7 aluminum-block V8, which is handcrafted by skilled engine craftsmen at
the GM Performance Build Center. For the LS7 destined for the last C6 produced,
the engine was built by Corvette executive chief engineer Tadge Juechter.
The last C6 Corvette will join other historic General Motors
vehicles at the GM Heritage Center in Warren, Mich.
“Leading up to the production of the last C6 has been all
business,” said Bowling Green plant manager Dave Tatman. “We take our job
seriously and consider it the privilege that it is. But you can’t do what we do
and not get emotionally attached to the car.”
Even as the team celebrated building the last C6, Tatman
said there has been a great deal of anticipation and excitement toward building
the all-new Stingray.
“The last C6 rolls off the line at 8:04 a.m. and I’ll have
people in here at 8:30 a.m. to start tearing down and putting in new tools,”
Tatman said.
The task will require that 120 workers take just four weeks
to turn the Bowling Green plant around, completing a job that usually takes
months to accomplish. All employees are slated to return to work on March 25,
where they will learn the entirely new process required to build the Stingray.
Bowling Green Assembly, which hosts up to 50,000 visitors a
year, is currently closed to the public to facilitate the remodeling of the
line. Tatman said he plans to reopen the plant to outside tours as soon as
possible, knowing that everyone is excited to see this new generation of
Corvette built.
“As I always say, we don’t build cars, we build dreams,”
Tatman said.
View more images of this historic moment on our Picasa Web Album online here.
