Wixom Plant Tours

[mellow yellow y2k2 tbird]

We will be in the Detroit area on vacation later this month, and would like to take a tour of the Wixom plant. Can anybody tell me who to contact to make arrangements?

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[CBIRD]

I will be in Dearborn, MI in November and would also like to tour the Wixom plant. I read on an earlier post that you can call a Mr. Davies at to arrange a tour. I called and had to leave a message. No one ever returned my call. I will try again closer to November. Perhaps if you call you will have better luck.

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02 Black T-Bird
1955 Sunliner Convertible
1955 Crown Victoria Glass Top
1931 Model "A" Panel Delivery Truck
1931 Model "A" Station Wagon
1971 Chevrolet S/B Pick up

 

[Tundrabird]

CBIRD & y2k2tbird - You have the right telephone number for Dave Davis. He will call you back if you leave a message, he returned all of my calls. The plant tour is a MUST if your in the area, you'll be impressed.

 

[ylo brd]

Dave is a retiree and only in the office part time, thats probably why you haven't heard back right away. I agree, the tour is a must, my husband and I took it in April, and again last week with 14 others before they started out on the Thunder on 66 trip. We were lucky enough to see the new 2003 gray color and the saddle seats. As we were leaving, one of the 03 test cars came around the corner and we gave it a thorough once over. Anyone else interested in a tour should consider it soon, Dave is concerned he may not be there much longer with Ford laying off regular employees on the Lincoln side of the house in the same plant.

 

[ylo brd]

Y2k2 tbird and Cbird, if you get a chance while in the Detroit area, you should visit the Henry Ford Museum and also check out the displays and gift shop at the Ford World Headquarters building. The gift shop has many of the items that you have to wait weeks for thru the Ford Collections catalog.

 

[A]

YLO BRD - Could you tell me more about the gray T-Bird. Did it have the saddle interior? How did the colors look together? What color of gray is it?

 

[tr cruiser]

I created an album for pictures we took at the 8/12 Wixom tour. There are several shots of the '03 test car ylo brd mentioned we saw outside the plant. Unfortunately, none of the pictures taken inside can be posted online. I should be able to add a few more shots of the '03 when I get my film processed. The cowling under the hood is quite different due to engine design changes.

 

[mellow yellow y2k2 tbird]

Got a call this AM from Dave Davis, one day after leaving a message for him. We have a plant tour scheduled for 9/6. Booked a room in a hotel just around the corner from the main gate. This should be the perfect ending to our two week vacation all over MI. We're leaving our bird home to rest; too many miles from TX. Sure hope our rental car is a Ford, since we'll be on their turf.

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ylo '02 w/full ylo
on the road 04/03/02 oh boy!

 

[leisha]

Make darn sure your rental car is a FORD! The signs at the guest parking at the main entrace say Ford cars only, others will be towed! The parking for other makes is a 1/4 mile away!

 

[ylo brd]

A - We only saw the rear facia in metallic gun metal gray, nice color if you like gray. The 2003 that we saw was black with the saddle tan seats. None of us liked the seat color, it looked more like a rust than a tan. The entire seat and plastic was that color and nothing else on the car to match. Do a search under 2003 bird sighted, leisha gives a great explanation on 8/14 of the car.

 

[HeelBird]

We were able to see an '03 gray up close--walk all around it. It's a dark charcoal color, IMO. Very classy look, I thought. I'm recalling that the interior was the standard gray/black--no color option on this one.

 

[Blue Heaven]

I saw a gray with the full solid saddle interior at the NY International car show this past April. According to an article in the July 2001 Motortrend Magazine, J. Mays stated that this car was built for Jac Nasser. It was very nice!! If they were to put that interior into production, they would have something (and yes, it looks more brown rust then saddle).

 

[leisha]

Previously reported on "2003 sighted" thread
I was at the previously mentioned tour and saw the same car. The Saddle tan??? seats looked like a redish brown color.The entire seat and head rests, were that color, including the plasic covering of the base. The engineer driving the car told us that there would be no color accents other than the seats.The balance of the interior would be the same dark gray black as the base car. This one had the black accents on the steering wheel and gear shift lever.
Non of us who had 02 birds seemed to like the saddle tan at all. Lots of 'who would want it, and what was Ford thinking" were heard. It looks like the seats were taken from another car and dropped in. The color doesn't seem to go with any exterior color. It seems that they are close to the color of the Pebble Beach concept which was dark grey with the complete 'saddle tan' interior.
Someone a Ford must have thought they could make a cheap imitation of that car, but it doesn't work with the balance of the interior black.
We saw some 'gunmetal grey rear facias sitting on racks near the assembly line. The grey color is great, a metallic, a bit lighter than the Pebble Beach car. Nice color.
The stainless steel trim, where the top sits was scuffed and bent upward here and there probably deformed when the top is torqued down. The fellow who gave us a talk on the plans for the 03 ,04 and 05 told us that they felt the scuffing could be controled with cleaning of the contact area regularly and with the use of the film kit if using the top for an extended period.
I personally felt that the new gauge cluster looked more retro and the bolder script was easier to see. The V8 on the side looked tacky. It looks like the V8 on any new car or
truck not at all retro.