Today is Labor Day and as a salute to the men, women and robots that make our cars for us — both here and abroad — we're taking a look at some of our favorite stories about how our cars are made.
We've got everything here from the follies and foibles of UAW workers to — because everybody loves manufacturing porn — some of the most breathtaking examples of the beauty of modern engineering.
We've also included a couple of stories designed to provide a quick look at the future — and show why we're so worried about our soon-to-be-new Chinese auto-making overlords.
The Hidden Treasures Auto Workers Leave In Cars
During the bad old days of labor disputes and union misbehavior, auto workers would "accidentally" lose tools in car doors or parts behind the dashboard. More »
Inside The UAW's Opulent Lakeside Resort
Earlier this year, the United Auto Workers decided to sell its money-losing 1,000-acre resort and golf course. Now, while GM files for its IPO, new UAW leadership is pulling the resort off the market. More »
Journalists on mock GM factory line produce 25 defects in 20 minutes
In a stroke of public relations ingenuity, General Motors and the UAW on Tuesday threw a handful of Detroit-area journalists onto the mock assembly line used for training hourly workers. More »
Auto Workers Drinking, Getting High During Lunch
Workers from a Detroit Chrysler plant visited by President Obama two months ago were busted today for drinking and smoking pot on their lunch break. Although they're now suspended, a former employee tells us it won't change a thing.
The Jefferson North Assembly Plant is Chrysler's flagship... More »
Eleven Ways The UAW Is Like Congress
So we're sitting here in the press room of the LA Auto Show thinking about Carpocalypse Now, the fight for loans from Congress and thinking to ourselves - More »
How Lamborghini builds its most technologically-advanced car ever
Not long ago, the phrase "Lamborghini quality" was as laughable as the phrase "monogamous Berlusconi."
The Italian automaker founded in 1963 by feisty Ferrari hater Ferruccio Lamborghini built a long line of swoopy exotics that demanded passionate, dedicated drivers - with an equally passionate and... More »
1959 Buick Assembly Line Footage
1959 was a year of change for Buick. Buick's new cars were very different from the 1958 models they replaced. Watch as brand-new Buicks with new model names and updated styling come together and roll off the assembly line. More »
How Ford builds the greatest track day Mustang ever
Today I toured Ford's Flat Rock Mustang assembly plant to check out the special assembly line set up for the BOSS 302S Mustang, the new man-of-the-track version of the Boss 302, a car we called "the best Mustang ever." God, do we love manufacturing porn.
My tour guide for the day was none other... More »
These aren't the jobs these droids were looking for
Computer-controlled, multi-axis assembly robots are the Carpocalypse's forgotten unemployed. Once, they built our cars; now, they sit dormant. What else are they good for? More »
NASA to replace astronauts with GM-built humanoid robots
Astronauts, America's beloved cowboys, are pissed about the Obama Administration killing manned spaceflight programs. Sounds like the right time for GM to brag about its astronaut-replacing R2 space robot NASA's sending into space this year. More »
If Chinese car parts are this bad, imagine an entire Chinese car
Last week, GM announced a production stoppage on Chevy Colorado/GMC Canyon compact trucks due to defective Chinese-made microchips. If one poorly made Chinese part can down a car plant, what if the entire car is Chinese?
The commonly held belief is automotive parts made in China are inherently... More »
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