The Hindu Business Line : Where history rolled out on four wheels

Detroit is synonymous with automotive industry. Today, visitors find the city sans people and dotted intermittently with old buildings and abandoned plants. And to imagine that this is the very city that powered an American revolution that put the world on four-wheels! The rusting factories and other structures stand testimony to those who cranked the engines to make this happen.

Founded in 1701 by Frenchmen Antoine de la Mothe and Sieur de Cadillac, Detroit is situated on the banks of the Detroit river connecting Lake Erie, and is the largest city in the Great Lakes State of Michigan. Located strategically, it was invaded by the British and there are heroic tales of the tribesman Pontiac who defended the territory.

A prominent building in the city’s downtown area is the Renaissance, the headquarters of General Motors. The central cylindrical building houses Hotel Marriot, while the four 39-storey buildings surrounding it are occupied by GM. The basement of the 71-storey cylindrical building is the GM World, a showcase of various GM brands — GMC, Pontiac, Chevrolet, Cadillac, Saturn and several racing cars.

This glass building located beside the lake was completed in 1981 as a result of the city’s determination to rise up from the 1967 riots. Ironically, the building was constructed by the grandson of Henry Ford but was eventually sold to GM as there was not much demand for office space.

Nearby is the Cobo Centre, which hosts the annual opening auto show — the North American International Auto Show. At Detroit’s entertainment district is the Comerica Baseball Park and Ford football field — home of the Detroit Tigers and Detroit Lions. Also present are the MGM Grand Casino and Motor City casino, which constitute the city’s only flourishing business activity today.

A drive along the river on Jefferson Avenue leads to the Jefferson North Assembly Plant of Daimler Chrysler which rolls out the Jeeps. At that very place once stood the Chrysler Jefferson Avenue plant, which had sales office and showrooms in the front and the factory at the rear.

Further north is the Solidarity House, the office of the president of UAW (United Auto Workers), Ron Gettelfinger, the most feared man for the auto corporations. A drive further leads to Gross Pointe, a locality of lavish mansions for the wealthy. It is here that Edsel Ford, son of Henry Ford, set up his serene home spanning over 87 acres.

Historic Avenue

Dream cruise on Woodward Avenue.

One of the main arteries of Detroit is the Woodward Avenue, a road brimming with history. In 1901, a mile section of the Woodward Avenue was cemented, thus becoming the world’s first paved road.

Down this road during the 1950s and 1960s, teens would take their family cars to race and show around. This practice, which ceased later, is now commemorated and celebrated as the Dream cruise, the world’s largest one-day automotive event. People from all over America show off their classic cars and recreate cruising along the Woodward, blasting horns and racing each other. People from far-off countries such as Norway come to see these vintage and classic cars, and some even buy them and ship them home.

Off Woodward Avenue lies Ford’s Piquette Plant, where Ford designed the Model T and began producing it. The Piquette even today retains the original flooring and wooden roof beams. Patricia Linklater, chair of the Detroit Historic District Commission, took me around and explained how Ford went from Piquette to the Highland Park.

On a visit to a Chicago slaughterhouse, Henry Ford noticed the overhead conveyors moving the stock while the packers were stationary.

This inspired him to start the moving assembly line in a bigger factory, the Highland Park. Patricia also showed me the ‘secret room’ on the third floor of the building where the Model T was believed to have been designed. One can take photographs seated at the replica of Henry Ford’s office table.

Slightly off the Avenue is the Hamtramck where the Dodge brothers laid their factory to produce trucks. Now owned by GM, I could still see the vast number of rusting railway lines that once moved the vehicles to different places. Along the General Motors Boulevard is the Durant Building, the old headquarters of GM, and across is the Fisher building, Detroit’s excellent architectural piece. Nearby, Boston Edison district houses the first own home of Henry Ford and Clara Ford where they lived during 1908-1913.

Just a mile away is the Highland Park, a series of four-storey red brick buildings with lots of windows.

These were designed by the famed automobile plant architect Albert Kahn, who was colour-blind and formally educated only till the age of 12. Today the place is overgrown with weeds and lies desolate. This was the very factory which once led Ford Motor Company to the future and whose gates workers thronged for jobs.

Ironically, Ford does not have any presence in Detroit today, having moved to Dearborn, 10 miles south. And just as Ford put Detroit on wheels, the increasing traffic led a police inspector, William L. Potts, to come up with the world’s first four-way traffic light in this city. Potts was also instrumental in forming the world’s first police-on-call. And Detroit’s Davison Freeway is also the world’s first freeway.

Changing gears

Vinod Jacob

The secret room where the Model T was designed

Around 80 years ago, Detroit was a place where people struggled to succeed. Back in 1908, 253 firms manufactured automobiles in the US, including Reo, Chalmers, Hupp, Anderson Electric, E-M-F, Paige and Wayne to name a few. Later, in 1929, only 44 companies remained in operation and eventually the number dwindled down to The Big Three — GM, Ford and Chrysler.

Over time the automotive companies and their offices moved away from Detroit to nearby suburbs like Troy, Warren, Lansing and Auburn Hills. A lot of people now stay in the suburbs or in neighbouring Canada and shuttle to Detroit daily for work. In fact, the world’s first auto traffic tunnel was constructed between Detroit and Windsor and still remains the largest trafficked international tunnel.

The times may have changed a lot in Detroit but the place would continue to remain the original ‘Motown’ in every automobile-loving heart.

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