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The former General Motors Wilmington Assembly Plant, which cranked out Saturns, Oldsmobiles and Pontiacs before falling victim to economic and corporate forces, is looking for a new owner.
This time, however, it wants a buyer that isn’t a luxury plug-in electric car maker that folds before a single vehicle can leave the factory.
According to Delaware Online, Wanxiang America Inc. put the 142-acre property up for sale as it attempts to rid itself of an asset (liability?) left over from Fisker Automotive’s bankruptcy castoffs. The Chinese conglomerate purchased Fisker’s assets in 2014 following the short-lived automaker’s meteoric rise and crash.
Whoever buys the property will surely enjoy its huge amount of space, history aplenty, and Delaware’s low, low property taxes.
First opened in 1947, the 3.2 million square foot plant was once a jewel in GM’s crown. Millions of vehicles built by GM’s Buick-Oldsmobile-Pontiac Assembly Division dutifully rolled off the line in Wilmington, only ceasing when bankruptcy overtook the auto giant. Its final vehicle? A 2009 Pontiac Solstice convertible.
During its formidable years, numerous Middle America models rolled out of Wilmington, perhaps the most infamous being the Chevrolet Chevette. When the plant closed in 2009, upstart Fisker Automotive saw an opportunity. The California-based automaker was readying its extended-range electric Karma sedan and saw Wilmington as the perfect spot to build its future Atlantic model. It bought the plant in October of that year, but the assembly line never moved again.
Fisker’s failure was swift. Technical problems plagued the expensive Karma sedan and the company failed to meet obligations laid out by the Department of Energy, which had provided huge loans. Unable to repay them, Fisker declared bankruptcy, leaving taxpayers on the hook for millions and the Delaware plant in darkness.
Don’t expect another automaker to set up shop in Wilmington. The plant’s unglamorous future probably holds a big-box retail distribution operation.
And I live within 20 miles of that plant. There’s been many bidders, but no buyers… so far.
Nice photo.
“Shovel them under and let me work.”
“The plant’s unglamorous future probably holds a big-box retail distribution operation.”
To me, any manufacturing would be the most glamorous. Second-most glamorous would be any operation that provides people with permanent jobs.
I wonder how environmentally poisoned this site is.
As I recall, it’s right next door to a PPG Automotive Coatings plant. Make your own guess.
That should be no problem. Automotive coatings are pretty benign, especially when handled by a prestigious company like PPG. As long as the stuff doesn’t glow in the dark, I figure it’s safe.
Ugh, the last thing that Routes 41 and 141 need is a steady stream of additional truck traffic.
Most of that, as before, would be handled by rail rather than trucks. As for Rt 141, they ARE doing upgrades to handle the already heavier traffic.
Great looking Chevette… Diesel?
Negative. That’s a ’79. Had the new front end and the original rear. Only year for that combo. Went to the wraparound taillights on the’80. The diesel came later.
AFIAK, the former Mitsubishi plant in Bloomington Illinois is available, too.
“Its final vehicle? A 2009 Pontiac Solstice convertible.”
Ew.
Could have been worse…AZTEK
No! Aztek migh-tay migh-tay! Grandfather of all CUV tribe!
That incidentally has taken over the USDM.
Yeah, the Aztek was worse looking, but as for something to deal with daily I’d probably have to choose it over the Solstice.
Don’t know why you would say, “ew,” that was actually a pretty fun little roadster. Problem is, GM killed Pontiac and Saturn (Sky) off before it could really get rolling and refused to migrate it over to Chevy where it probably would have done some good.
-Build quality was terrible.
-Rather under-powered.
-Interior was a joke.
-With the top down there was no trunk.
-Top operation was a joke.
The Sky was much better looking, but not a better product.
I drove the Sky at the dealership and was a reasonably good friend of the salesperson because I’d purchased another car previously and went in frequently just to talk to him and look at new models (the two and two-half doors of the Ion were especially interesting) and honestly, the build quality looked and sounded a lot better than you’re claiming. I’ll grant it was marginally underpowered, but that was more due to using the wrong grade of gas in it as my Saturn Vue with the exact same engine was a little rocket at nearly 800 pounds heavier (and a manual transmission.) I’ve learned that the showroom tune of the engines isn’t their broken-in performance as four- to five thousand miles of lively driving will loosen them up nicely.
And you don’t buy a roadster for its trunk.
If you think the following looks good, I’m not sure we have anything in common.
http://adamcomotorsports.com/wp-content/gallery/2008-pontiac-solstice-roadster/solstice8.jpg
You were specifically talking about quality, not trim. Just because you don’t like the way it looks doesn’t mean everyone else will agree with you. It served the purpose and, with the wheel up in a more normal driving position, was more than functional. From your statement, I would assume a flat piece of sheet metal with holes punched in it for the instruments and gauges would have looked far better, even if more primitive.
“And you don’t buy a roadster for its trunk.”
While no one expects much trunk space in a small sports car, having effectively none is a deal-killer for anyone who wants to take said car out for a weekend trip. I looked at a Solstice back in the day and was very surprised to find that, with the top down and a passenger, there was no place to stow even something like a soft-sided backpack. Assuming you have a significant other, that made the car only suitable for day-trips. No overnight jaunts, no errand runs that would result in cargo beyond what your passenger could fit in their lap.
Miatas have a small but serviceable trunk, and its capacity isn’t affected by having the top down. TheS2000 managed it as well. I can’t fathom why GM couldn’t or wouldn’t do the same.
“Assuming you have a significant other, that made the car only suitable for day-trips. No overnight jaunts, no errand runs that would result in cargo beyond what your passenger could fit in their lap.”
The same could have been said for the old-school ‘mid-sized’ standard cab pickups, don’t you? Sure, you’ve got that big, empty box in the back, but would you consider your backpack safe out there as you crawl through little po-dunk towns on that weekend jaunt? Of course, at the same time if you’re hitting the world’s longest yard sale, that big open bed does come in handy, don’t it?
@5280
Rushed, cheap engineering where everything was an afterthought – that’s why it doesn’t have a trunk, and the top operation is comical.
YIKES! That’s the ugliest dash I’ve ever seen!
http://adamcomotorsports.com/wp-content/gallery/2008-pontiac-solstice-roadster/solstice8.jpg
If you don’t like the Solstice, that’s okay, but it sold as well as the Miata in the US. That may not have been enough to make a good business case, but it’s probably the most that anyone could expect. It was well accepted by the market.
With an unusable trunk with the top down; the Solstice/Sky were glaring examples of GM once again almost getting it right. Yes, you can get a set of golf clubs in a Miata’s trunk. Oh, and damned hard to find a Pontiac dealer these days. But I’m sure “New GM” has warehouses of parts for its orphaned brands
Used to own a Chevette just like that one, crappy car, but great times. I’d trade in my nicer car for those good times any day!
After my uncle retired from 20 years of service in the Army, he moved back to the US and bought a bright red Chevette (Scooter edition, no less!). I have pics somewhere of me as a scrawny kid standing next to it. Of course, being my uncle’s I thought it had to be one of the best cars ever. Man, did I have a lot to learn about cars.
It’s all relative. When we were driving a hot and noisy little ’85 Civic sedan, our more seasoned Russian emigre friends’ Cutlass Ciera International Edition(!!!) looked and felt like the epitome of opulence in automobiles. Blue velour, air conditioning, lazy V6 motor, those cool little flag badges.
Wow. So worldly. What internationals.
The difference being the Civic probably ran after 70,000 miles…
I toured that Wilmington GM plant as a kid back around 1980…it was the first time I saw robotic welders. About three or four robots were helping to weld Chevette bodies, as I recall. About 10 years later, I toured Opel’s historic Rüsselsheim plant. By then, robots were everywhere.
Some one loved that Chevette!
Check out the sunscreen under the windshield.
For good reason. These were reliable cars, with great handling!
Perhaps they weren’t roomy, or smooth, but they were better than Vegas, Pintos, and Datsun B-210s.
In fact, all 3 visible cars are GM products: 77-79 Pontiac Catalina, and a 78-80 Malibu or LeMans 2-door.
Just think if, instead of Chevettes, GM had built Opels there in the 1970s, and Opel Vectras (vs the Saturn L200/300) in the early 2000s.
The Chevette was not bad, but the Saturn was a colossal waste of money for a car inferior to it’s German cousin.
I grew up with an ’81 Chevette that my mom owned from ’83 to ’91. It was not in the least reliable. But, in its favor, it was extremely cheap to fix when it broke. Parts were cheap and everything about it was easy to work on, so even Ray down at the local service station could fix it without drama.
As far as handling, it was extremely tail-happy, which kept her awake and cautious in the Seattle rain and was sheer terror in snowy or icy conditions. It’s the one car I’ve ever been familiar with that would have been bad in the snow with snow tires.
To this day I am not quite sure of the difference in A) size or B) age or C) goodness of the Chevette and Citation.
Chevette = heavily massaged Isuzu I-Mark, subcompact, RWD, 1976-1988 (by the end of which it was more or less in the market position of a Yugo). They were penalty boxes in every respect but reasonably durable.
Citation = GM X-Body, compact, FWD, 1980-1985. Was a more satisfying car to drive and far more comfortable than a Chevette when it was working. But it usually wasn’t working, or if it was working it was probably also rusting. These are the cars, more than any others, that blew up GM.
Why thank you. They overlapped entirely, wouldn’t have thought that.
“These are the cars, more than any others, that blew up GM.”
You forgot the Chevy Vega and its cross-brand sisters that to me did NOT earn the reputation it received. I actually liked them and when driven with some skill were actually pretty good as a ‘sporty’ economy car. (Then again, stick a Buick V6 under the hood and that ‘sporty’ didn’t need quotes.)
I cut my teeth on an ’81 Chevette diesel as a young 16-year old driver. The only car I have ever been able to drive constantly at 10/10ths!
The heavy, 1.8l Isuzu diesel up front made for weird handling dynamics because the diesel version was weighted like a front-wheel drive car. My younger brother still talks about the time when I accidentally did a 180-degree spin on the gradual uphill turn on damp entrance to the school at 10-mph in a gutless diesel. He still can’t believe it happened…and I can’t either since it seemed to deny physics.
“Just think if, instead of Chevettes, GM had built Opels there in the 1970s…”
Er, the Chevette was the US version of the Opel Kadett.
Remember the Opel GT? People were calling it a baby Corvette.
Best thing about the Opel GT was my 7th-grade math teacher Ms. M. had one.
Woof.. that class was nothing but us young d*icks dropping pens & pencils.
I blame Her Hotness for my subsequent innumeracy.
Only Pontiac is regretted here.
The bean counter logic of dumping it and retaining Buick still defeats me.
Buick was apparently on the chopping block as well but was saved because it was GM’s primary brand in China and sold a lot of cars there. On my first trip to Beijing in 2007 I noticed a lot of Buicks. The percentage of them seems to have dropped on every subsequent trip.
My Dear sweet Jeebus! Car enthusiasts trying to defend the vega, chevette, or citation. Think of them as “Old GM’s” final act in a car-production tragedy that drove hundreds of thousands to Japanese or German rides. Those hundreds of thousands never looked back. Although I was sorely tempted by a CPO Lincoln; an 18k selling price and “fawn over me” warranty was tempting. I went Lexus instead.
I went Japanese once–with a Mitsubishi Sport pickup. ALL but one of my others have been American branded, even if they were built in Canada or Mexico–that one being Italian.
Some people still smoke and drink sugared sodas.
I never smoked and I avoid HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) with a passion. Sugar is definitely healthier–in moderation.
For that matter, Today I bought a new SUV… American brand, European manufacture. Anniversary Edition.