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Some Mk1 history tidbits I wasn't aware of...

358K views 618 replies 168 participants last post by  Hammandy 
#1 ·
#21 ·
Re: Some Mk1 history tidbits I wasn't aware of... (s-rocc)

I'm new to the mk1 forums and just towed home an 81 caddy to play with.I just love third childhoods!Not sure what you want to know about so give me some posts.Back in the 70s and early 80s VW was Volkswagen,Porsche,Audi headquartered in N.J.With the development of US Manufacturing a new company was created called Volkswagen Manufacturing based in Michigan.The plant was in Westmoreland Pa. and the stamping plant was in South Charleston,West Virginia.The two companies were merged and the N.J. people/jobs were transfered to Troy Mich. in 1983.I find it irronic that a plant is being built once again in the US and Corporate has once again moved this time to Virginia.I feel I'm watching a rerun!
 
#22 · (Edited)
Re: Some Mk1 history tidbits I wasn't aware of... (slats)

Let me introduce my friend "Captain" Morgan - some of you may know him from his "CoolJet" Mk2 Jetta project (seen here at Treffen year before last):

His build thread - http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=2680323
He goes by the vortex username "cooljet", so if you've got specific questions, go right to the source and IM him.

Well, Morgan was employed in the paint & body assembly areas of Westmoreland from early 1977 until the mid '80s. Here's a couple shots of him in a local paper from the official plant opening:

See the guy at the bottom right that looks like he's tilting that Rabbit shell on it's side? That's Morgan. See the guy in the upper right in the dark jacket discussing something with Mr. Tie? That's Morgan too. Note the paper's date of March 1978 too.
See the guy in the hard hat standing in front of a Rabbit shell? That was the first body shell assembled completely by the Westmoreland plant. That'll be important later on in our story.
Here's a shot of the sign-off stamp he used to OK a car to go on to the next level of assembly:

I wanted to try to put together a more firm timeline as to when cars were actually produced in the Westmoreland plant, as it seems like all the official "print" sources have been wrong compared to what I've always heard from the guys who actually worked there. Morgan just happens to have kept a lot of the memorabilia from his time there that'll either clear or cloud the waters, I guess...
Anyway - exhibit #1 - here's the plaque that rode down the line with the first Rabbit shell assembled completely in the Westmoreland plant on December 8th, 1977:

According to Morgan, the first cars assembled at the plant were "MKD" or Middle Knock Down kits - the bodies had already been assembled / painted in Germany, and the cars were sent to the US as knocked-down "kit cars" that were run down the line simply to train employees and troubleshoot the assembly process. The body would come in one crate and another crate would have all the other pieces needed to build one complete car. These cars were 2 and 4 door base level Rabbits, ALL white exterior with a thin maroon pinstripe. ALL were round-light cars, as the shells were being built in Germany using the german stampings. ALL would have 6/77 to 3/78 build dates on their VIN tag as well as having Westmoreland as the build location. 250 of these cars were built between June 1977 to April 1978 and sold to the general public, which makes them the rarest of the Westy rare.
This sign rode down the the line on the first non-MKD shell, or more specifically, the first shell assembled in the body/welding shop. At this time, Westmoreland was getting body panels from Germany, Canada and West Virginia, but this car represented the first WV stamped / PA built car, which was a huge milestone for VWoA.
Here's a VIN plate from one of the pieces of large equipment VW sent from Germany for the Westmoreland plant:

Exhibit #2 - here's a VW employee newsletter from January 1978 (same year slats was hired) that proclaims that the stamping plant is now fully operational:

Now the plant could start building bodies here instead of shipping them over from Germany. This is important - this is the split from the round headlight rabbits (which is what the MKD kit cars were) to the early square "westy" light setups, as this new stamping plant only made the square light fender setups. Since the diesels were still being made only in Germany, they retained the round lights. Remember the picture from the paper showing the hard-hat guy standing in front of the Rabbit shell? Here's where it fits in - the stamping plant goes online, paint line starts operation soon after that, so no need for the MKD kits anymore (but the MKD kits were still going down the assembly line until April of 1978, mixed in with the Westmoreland fab'd shells).
Exhibit #3 - Here's a nice letter from the plant manager dated April 29th, 1978 thanking the employees for the "successful, timely opening of the Volkswagen Westmoreland facility":

They passed out neat little tokens to commemorate the event, like these paperweights:


Quote, originally posted by slats »
Back in the 70s and early 80s VW was Volkswagen,Porsche,Audi headquartered in N.J.With the development of US Manufacturing a new company was created called Volkswagen Manufacturing based in Michigan.

That explains this belt buckle - I always wondered where the VWMOA came from:

He's also got commemorative Rabbit Truck belt buckles from when the first ones went down the assembly line, but I didn't get pics of them today. I'll have Morgan sift through his memory stash to see if he can't uncover any more gems...


Modified by buzbomb4 at 8:15 PM 3-7-2010
 
#25 ·
Re: Some Mk1 history tidbits I wasn't aware of... (slats)

WOW!!
 
#26 ·
Re: Some Mk1 history tidbits I wasn't aware of... (buzbomb4)

Wonderful info, thx so much! What a treasure Morgan is. I'm sure I'm not alone when I say that I'd love to see Morgan post some facts/info/stories/more memorabilia/etc--please link it to this post. http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif
http://****************.com/smile/emgift.gif
 
#27 ·
Re: Some Mk1 history tidbits I wasn't aware of... (mk216v)

Quote, originally posted by mk216v »
Wonderful info, thx so much! What a treasure Morgan is. I'm sure I'm not alone when I say that I'd love to see Morgan post some facts/info/stories/more memorabilia/etc--please link it to this post. http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif
http://****************.com/smile/emgift.gif

x2
 
#28 · (Edited)
Re: Some Mk1 history tidbits I wasn't aware of... (mk216v)

Quote, originally posted by mk216v »
Wonderful info, thx so much! What a treasure Morgan is. I'm sure I'm not alone when I say that I'd love to see Morgan post some facts/info/stories/more memorabilia/etc--please link it to this post. http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif
http://****************.com/smile/emgift.gif

Thanks - glad everyone approves. Morgan's in the process of moving from IN to PA, so some of his goodies probably won't see light again for a short while. I've let him know about this post and he should be chiming in shortly.
Yes, those early "body in white" cars were sold to the public, and yes I've seen them (unfortunately mostly in junk yards or photos of them in scrap yards). Finding one of these cars in good enough shape to restore would be a "holy grail" find for me.
 
#29 ·
FV-QR

amazing stuff posted up in here
but from that main link this confuses me
Today, the Mk 1 Rabbits look tiny, but they were nearly 10 inches (254 mm) longer than the original European Golf, thanks mostly to larger bumpers. A late-model Rabbit GTI had the same 94.5-inch (2,400-mm) wheelbase as the European car, but was 155.3 inches (3,945 mm) long, five inches (127 mm) longer than a late European-market Mk 1. ...........
am i reading this correct saying that the US bumpers made the car 10 inches longer than a 'euro' one?
 
#30 ·
Re: FV-QR (urogolf)

Quote, originally posted by urogolf »
am i reading this correct saying that the US bumpers made the car 10 inches longer than a 'euro' one?

Sounds about right. 5" further out on each end. Compare an early Euro Golf with the small metal bumpers to an early Westy with the US-spec crash bumpers.
 
#33 ·
Re: Some Mk1 history tidbits I wasn't aware of... (mk216v)

I thought that I would add a few thoughts on my early days at Westmoteland. It was March 1977 that I was hired as a supervisor for the body shop. With in two weeks of hire I was working in Wolfsburg,West Germany.
I went through training and certification in VW schools for welding, metal finishing and brazing. After a month in West Germany I received VW certification in welding and metal finishing. As the plant was beginning to take shape internally I was selected to develop and run a training school in the Greensburg area. My school was to train the first 150 employees that would be the inplant trainers as we ramped up production. I was again sent to Wolfsburg to get some more training and different VW certifications. When the plant started to assemble cars my assignment was to run the respot line. The respot line was the area which assembled bodies were finished welding both inside and outside.
When the Respot line was up and running I was asked to take over the the final inspection line in the Paint Shop. In that position I was responsible for final repair, undercoating and final buyoff off painted bodies shipped by conveyor to assembly. In that position I had my hands on every vehicle that left the plant until I left in the 80's.
A note about the plant itself. When I walked into the plant in 77 the plant was touted as the largest dirt floor under roof in the world.
Ever wonder hoe VW paid for the vacant plant in Westmoreland. VW made and agreement with Chrysler to supply engines, transmissions for the Chrysler K car for I think 3 years as payment.
A few notes on the first 250 MKD (middle knock down) cars that where built in Westmoreland. These cars where all German built bodies, all painted white, had round headlights, but the most important feature that distinguishes this body was a .375" maroon tape strip that was placed along the side character line.
The reason that VW left the US. All of you have to understand that the US experiment was the first time that the German management had turned total control for manufacturing over non German management. The final straw was the poor quality the the US management could not control. In all of the rest of the world any plant outside Germany have top management that contain Germans.
Well that is all for now.
Capt.
 
#34 ·
Re: FV-QR (4000stq)

On my 1983 rabbit when I gutted the interior, I pulled out exactly 140lbs. Though I forget if this included the dash. This did include the seats. Considering the other differances in the german vrs american bunnies, I can easily see a differance of 90-140lbs being very accurate. I would venture the differance might even be slightly higher...
I have yet to boither weighing in my 1977. I keep meaning to go do this.
This is an amazing and very informative thread guys!
 
#37 ·
Re: Some Mk1 history tidbits I wasn't aware of... (mk216v)

I know its been said already, but this thread is full of great information that you never get to hear about. I'm looking forward to learning more about the inner workings of the westy plant! Thanks to all who have contributed so far. http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif
 
#38 ·
Re: Some Mk1 history tidbits I wasn't aware of... (deer_eggs)

Short Story; A Bad Day at Westmoreland
I was working as the supervisor in the paint shop final buy off area. I was at the shipping point between paint and the assembly conveyor. This area was about 15 feet above the floor. I spotted the plant manager and his group of managers comming through the shop. I knew that something was up. Mr. Cummins climbed into may area and called to the Body Shop Manager to ge up there. He told me to hold the line and not to release an more bodies to assembly. He started to point out problems that had been passed thru that were bad. His face was taunt and the Body Shop Manager was showing signs of fear. In an Instant He turned toi me a told me to release the safety locks that lock the body to the conveyor. Then he told the people in the station to lift the body off the conveyor. We all looked in amazement on the order. He looked me in the eye and said "Over the side". We wiggled the body free of the conveyour and the railing an allowed it to fall to the floor. It landed on its roof in a loud crash rocking and pivoted in a circle. I was taken back. Mr Cummins told me to release the empty carrier and bring up another car. When the other car arrived in position he went over the car an told us to repeat the throwing off another body. He then left taking all of the managers with him. About three hours later here he comes alone. Ididn't know what to think. He pulled myself and the crew off the line and told us why the he went through this exercise and that we were not going to send junk under his watch. An experience in quality that I will never forget.
Capt.
 
#39 ·
Re: Some Mk1 history tidbits I wasn't aware of... (cooljet)

Quote, originally posted by cooljet »
Short Story; A Bad Day at Westmoreland
I was working as the supervisor in the paint shop final buy off area. I was at the shipping point between paint and the assembly conveyor. This area was about 15 feet above the floor. I spotted the plant manager and his group of managers comming through the shop. I knew that something was up. Mr. Cummins climbed into may area and called to the Body Shop Manager to ge up there. He told me to hold the line and not to release an more bodies to assembly. He started to point out problems that had been passed thru that were bad. His face was taunt and the Body Shop Manager was showing signs of fear. In an Instant He turned toi me a told me to release the safety locks that lock the body to the conveyor. Then he told the people in the station to lift the body off the conveyor. We all looked in amazement on the order. He looked me in the eye and said "Over the side". We wiggled the body free of the conveyour and the railing an allowed it to fall to the floor. It landed on its roof in a loud crash rocking and pivoted in a circle. I was taken back. Mr Cummins told me to release the empty carrier and bring up another car. When the other car arrived in position he went over the car an told us to repeat the throwing off another body. He then left taking all of the managers with him. About three hours later here he comes alone. Ididn't know what to think. He pulled myself and the crew off the line and told us why the he went through this exercise and that we were not going to send junk under his watch. An experience in quality that I will never forget.
Capt.

Throwing down the gauntlet, BOOM!
Awesome.
http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif

PS--Completely unrelated (save for German pride) but I was at Chevron last night filling up my Audi. 12 other cars with left hand gas fillers all waiting for open pumps. I was the only one with a right hand filler and had them all to myself. Gotta love ze Germans.
 
#41 ·
Re: Some Mk1 history tidbits I wasn't aware of... (BeatBox_kid)

Quote, originally posted by BeatBox_kid »
Super Cool, This is the best post i've seen in awhile.
keep typing capt.

http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif
 
#42 ·
Re: Some Mk1 history tidbits I wasn't aware of... (puebla)

I spoke with the Captain this evening (get it, Captain Morgan) and we discussed those 250 MKD cars and how to determine if it's genuine.
Morgan claims the only clues would be the body color (white paint with maroon stripe), and the VIN would be German but the manufacturer sticker in the door jam would have a Westmoreland build location. So, start checking those VIN's and manufacturer stickers kids, I really wanna see some pics of one of these cars surviving today...
Here's a couple questions for Morgan that I keep forgetting to ask - what interior colors did these MKD cars have? What trim levels? Was it an even mix of 2dr and 4dr cars?
You were around during the VW Caddy days too, and I know I've heard the stories, but would you be kind enough to share some of them here also? It's a real focus point of current VW marketing to talk about a "true American-inspired VW" but few understand the VW Caddy was the first.
One more request - tell the story of those Dasher coupe shells
Image uploading. Refresh page to view
 
#43 ·
Re: Some Mk1 history tidbits I wasn't aware of... (BeatBox_kid)

Ever wonder how the plant was built internally along with the production of vehicles. Here is a little history lesson. When I walked in to the plant in 77 the main floor was just dirt. We were scheduled to have the plant up and running for the next year launch. We had our offices in construction trailers outside of the plant. In the middle of the plant was a large layout of the production floor. This layout contained a grid pattern, with each section of the grid assigned a number and date. Completion of the floor with all of it pits was outllined with dates and sequence of operation. I want to tell you that I would be working on installing a welding fixture in a completed section and right next to me as a cement truck pouring concrete. It was like a ballet of organized caos as the worked was completed. The level of detail that the Germans maintained at a distance was fantastic. In the progression of process the final repair was finished first and then it was split up between assembly and the body shop. One of the neat things that the Germans did was build the tooling ofsite and have it proved out then sent to Westmoreland. Being in the body shop it was amazing to install a fixture which 3 to 6 months ago had been in Germany on the floor at Wolfsburg. Another neat part of this process was the German Misters (Management) that were sent to live in the stated until the plant wad up and running. VW brought them to Greensburg and bought them furnished houses to live in. My mister was Carl Hein Schmidt. We became friends and he was a real mentor to me. He was working in the Wolfsburg plant before the war and then pressed in to military service. At the end of the war he went back to Wolfsburg to start up the plant, one brick at a time. He told me that his first job was to clean up the devistation of the intense boming. I had told him of my keen interest in the VW story and he took time to recount many stories of how the plant was restored by the British and that he had served as a worker, supervisor and then a manager. This guy was sharp as a tack. And he didn't take prisiomers when it came to quality. He was the one that taught me many metal working and welding tricks in production setting.
Sorry for the rambling but it is such great story. As I put the way back in gear I will recount other little tid bits for your enjoyment.
 
#45 ·
Re: Some Mk1 history tidbits I wasn't aware of... (buzbomb4)

Buzbomb has asked some questions so I will try to answer then as best as I can. As for the interior colors I vaguely remember tan, black and maroon.
As for trim levels were the base and mid trim models. The major reason was the Germans referred to the base model as the report card of the company. To understand this the base model contained more exposed metal and paint. When the base models hit final buy off they usually had more defects. In the early days of production we were able to produce near perfect vehicles and we in the body and paint shop were proud. The standard for a acceptable build was a 2.0 rating based on a 0 to 4.0 system. There days when basic models attained a 1.8 rating.
As far as the mix it was even mix between 2 and 4 door.
I was there for the first build of the US caddy. When the caddy was ready to launch I was working in the rear floor area. This was the area that received a complete makeover in order to build the truck floor. We built the first sub assembly and was asked to follow it to the weld line for assembly. I watched as the rear floor was put in place in the fixtures and watched as the caddy come together. THe main body weld fixture was massive tool that had 10 complete weld fixtures the indexed on a specific time. I wish I had a camera to document. The next major piece was the body side and before my the eyes the caddy was born on US soil. The body was finished it was removed form the weld fixture and sent to the respot line for final welding. When the truck was finished I felt that I had witnessed history.
Having been in body shop for all of the initial builds was an honor.
Capt.
 
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