LOS ANGELES -- Production at General Motors Corp.'s Van Nuys assembly plant entered its final week on Friday before the facility closes for good, idling 2,600 workers.
Production is scheduled to cease on Aug. 27 at 2:42 p.m. PDT, the end of the shift at the 45-year-old plant, which produces 1992 models of Chevrolet Camaros and Pontiac Camaros. The plant has operated on one shift, starting at 6:12 a.m., for more than a year.
'We are not planning any special ceremonies on the final day or when the last car comes down the line,' said GM spokesman Patrick Morrissey. 'Things will probably be pretty tight that day.'
However, a Camaro collector, Leonard Stevenson, of Des Moines, Iowa, has already agreed to buy the final car off the line and will be on hand that day.
Production of Camaros and Firebirds will be shifted to the GM plant in St. Therese, Quebec for the redesigned 1993 lines.
The Van Nuys plant, which has 2.2 million square feet and is located on 100 acres in a suburb in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, currently produces 60 cars an hour, Morrissey said. It has produced about 6.2 million cars since it opened in 1947, including Monte Carlos, Bel Airs, Impalas, Biscaynes, Corvairs and pickup trucks.
General Motors announced in July 1991 that it would stop production at the Van Nuys plant, but has not announced any specific plans for the factory after it closes except for holding retraining classes for the employees.
Morrissey said the 2,350 employees who are members of the United Auto Workers will, under their contract, receive full pay until September 1993 if they agree to attend school for retraining, either at the Van Nuys facility or elsewhere.
If an employee chooses not to attend school, he or she will receive 85 percent of pay until September 1993.
Morrissey said about 10 percent of the employees have opted to attend the in-plant classes, while 40 percent have decided to attend school.
GM still operates one other California plant -- a joint venture facility with Toyota Motors in Fremont near San Jose.
