California Assembly Plants: Where, What & When?

[49D-24BusCpe]

Sleuths,

    I know that there were vehicle production plants in Los Angeles and San Leandro.

    My question is, what vehicles were built at each locations, and when?

    Specifically, I'm very interested in learning where my California built '49 D-24 Business Coupe was assembled?

Walt

[Plymouthy Adams]

look at your serial number...that will define where it was built...

[49D-24BusCpe]

14 minutes ago, Plymouthy Adams said:

look at your serial number...that will define where it was built...

PA,

    I appreciate the very rapid response!

    My '49 D-24's particulars are;  Serial: 45044030  Body: 27536TPC (out of 27600!!).

    Where was this 'Three Passenger Coupe' assembled?

Walt

[TodFitch]

1 hour ago, 49D-24BusCpe said:

PA,

    I appreciate the very rapid response!

    My '49 D-24's particulars are;  Serial: 45044030  Body: 27536TPC (out of 27600!!).

    Where was this 'Three Passenger Coupe' assembled?

Walt

From my Serial/VIN lookup/decoder:

Serial Number	45044030
Found in range	45022453 to 45045426
Serial	21578 of 22974
Year	1948
Make	Dodge
Model Name	DeLuxe or Custom
Model Code	D24
Plant	Los Angeles
Engine	6 cylinder 230.2 cu. in. L-head
Wheelbase	119 1/2 inches

[49D-24BusCpe]

Tod,

    I appreciate the information on my coupe.

    I checked out your fantastic website, and found it to be a veritable data 'goldmine' for Plymouth vehicles. Do you have a counterpart Dodge version?

Walt

[TodFitch]

1 hour ago, 49D-24BusCpe said:

Tod,

    I appreciate the information on my coupe.

    I checked out your fantastic website, and found it to be a veritable data 'goldmine' for Plymouth vehicles. Do you have a counterpart Dodge version?

Walt

Sorry. . . I did enter the look up serial/VIN data for all Chrysler built cars into the 1960s but my parts books and focus has been on Plymouth. The parts area may still be of assistance to you as long as you can find the original part number. Many parts were common between Plymouth and Dodge and you may find a modern cross reference or vendor if you have a part number.

[Plymouthy Adams]

2 hours ago, TodFitch said:

From my Serial/VIN lookup/decoder:

Serial Number	45044030
Found in range	45022453 to 45045426
Serial	21578 of 22974
Year	1948
Make	Dodge
Model Name	DeLuxe or Custom
Model Code	D24
Plant	Los Angeles
Engine	6 cylinder 230.2 cu. in. L-head
Wheelbase	119 1/2 inches

thanks for stepping in there Tod, been busy out of doors on a house remodel..only on the kybd for short coffee breaks and tracking down materials.

[John-T-53]

San Leandro...The buildings still stand. I visited here a few years ago on a tour of Olsen Steel (non knowing the building's significance at the time).

In the back of the taller building is Drake's Brewing.

Edited November 15, 2017 by John-T-53

[Desotodav]

Cool photos John. Looks like they just assembled a couple of 'Spring Special' trucks in the background of the first 2 photos!

[Plymouthy Adams]

check out the HOLE IN THE FLOOR crew.....thinks are looking up for them....lol

[martybose]

I worked in the Dodge San Leandro plant in the late 60's/early 70's when it was owned by International Harvester and built Class 8 semi tractors.  They closed it in the mid 70's and it stayed vacant for a while, then Caterpillar bought it to manufacture diesel fuel pumps for their engines.  They closed it again after a few years, and it stayed vacant until the building was converted into retail sales location for a bunch of smaller companies.

If you look carefully there are remnants of the prior uses; the shed is still alongside the main building that contained the chassis dyno that we ran all of the semi tractors on back in the day.

Marty

[40desoto]

Does anyone know exactly where the Los Angeles plant was?

[Plymouthy Adams]

California.......

 

 

 

sorry could not resist......https://www.allpar.com/corporate/factories/los-angeles.html

Edited November 16, 2017 by Plymouthy Adams

[40desoto]

I think it was actually in the city of commerce close to Los Angeles

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_(Maywood)_Assembly

[Plymouthy Adams]

while large metro areas have names for sectors that make up the metropolis, within the article I posted the link this location is clearly given.....

the plant, at 5800 Eastern and Slauson (the southeast corner),

[John-T-53]

I wouldn't want to be stuck in that neighborhood after dark...

[Veemoney]

For the trucks

 

[Young Ed]

cool black out model truck. that would be either late 42 or early 45-46. I actually had one of those for a bit. Was a severely rusted out parts truck unfortunately. 

[B-Watson]

The Los Angeles plant started building Plymouths on June 15, 1933, models PC and PD.   Plymouths were produced through 1960.  The Los Angeles plant was under the Plymouth Division until the late 1950's when the Automotive Manufacturing Group took charge of all U.S. assembly, body, engine, transmission, and parts plants.

The first Dodge built at Los Angeles came off the line in 1946.   The last full-size Dodge was built at Los Angeles in 1960.  Production of Chrysler Windsor and DeSoto Custom models began at Los Angeles late in 1948.

Starting with the 1949 models all Dodge and 6 cylinder DeSotos and Chryslers were built at Los Angeles.  Chrysler Saratoga was added for 1951, DeSoto Firedome for 1952 and Chrysler New Yorker for 1953.  From 1957 to 1959 the Firesweep was the only DeSoto model built at LA while no 6 cylinder Coronets were built in 1957-58.   The last DeSoto rolled off the LA plant at the end of the 1959 model year, while 1960 marked the end of Plymouth, Dart (big Dart), Dodge and Chrysler production.   Only A and B bodies (along with E body in 1970) were built at LA through to closing in 1971.

The San Leandro plant was built by Dodge in 1948.   Plymouth and Dodge cars were built from 1949 through 1954 at San Leandro.   Apparently bodies were shipped to the San Leandro plant as body building facilities were not added to the plant until 1953, in time for the 1954 model year.   With the west coast sales collapsing in 1954, Chrysler decided to close the San Leandro plant at the end of the 1954 model year. 

As for determining which plant was which,  the serial number can help.  After the war Plymouth serial numbers starting  with "1" were built at the Lynch Road plant in Detroit - 1x,xxx,xxx.

The Evansville plant started with "2" with the second digit being "0", "1" or "2". 

Los Angeles plant also started with "2" but had the third digit less than "5".   San Leandro production used 2x,5xx,xxx numbers with the second digit being "5" or higher.

Dodge started using eight digit serial numbers for 1949,  and had the Detroit cars starting with "3" and California cars starting with  "4".   Dodge did the opposite as Plymouth for the third digit for San Leandro being "0" to "4" and Los Angeles being "5" or higher.  

For DeSoto eight digit serial numbers for Los Angeles began with "60" to "64" while eight digit serial numbers for Detroit started at "5"x. 

Chrysler eight digit numbers for Los Angeles also started at "65" to "69" with Detroit cars starting with "7x".   1955 to 1957 Chrysler serial numbers in the U.S. had a letter for the model, two digits for the model year and then "L' for Los Angeles.  Detroit numbers had no plant letter.  Thus W55-1001 was for a 1955 Detroit-built Windsor and W55L-1001 for Los Angeles.

In 1958 Chrysler Corp serial numbers were laid out as L (1958), C (car line), 1 (engine / chassis) and, if not Detroit, L (assembly plant - L- Los Angeles, E - Evansville, N - Newark).

From 1959 to date the VIN has a digit for the plant that built the car.   

For the prewar seven digit serial numbers, 9,000,001 to 9,199,999 were for Evansville production (Dodge Trucks to 1932, Plymouth cars starting 1936 and Dodge cars in 1937). 

Serial numbers 9,200,001 to 9,299,999 were used for California (Stockton 1931-1932, then Los Angeles).  These numbers were used for Plymouth, Dodge and Dodge Truck.  Canadian serial numbers for Plymouth, Dodge, DeSoto and Chrysler cars and Fargo Trucks used serial numbers 9,300,001 to 9,900,000. 9,900,001 to 9,999,999 were used for early 1930's export Dodges and other special runs.   Canadian Dodge Trucks were 8,900,001 to 8,980,000.  The eight digit serial numbers starting with "9" were all for Canadian production through 1957.

Hope this makes sense.

 

[MackTheFinger]

On 11/15/2017 at 7:36 PM, 40desoto said:

Does anyone know exactly where the Los Angeles plant was?

You drive to the Slauson Cutoff, get out of your car, cut off your Slauson, get back in your car, drive 6 miles.... 

[Niel Hoback]

Thank you Johnny Carson.