To most people, Illinois is known for buying cars, not building them. But the state houses 10 manufacturing facilities employing nearly 25,000 people engaged in vehicle production.
Ford LTDs and Mercury Marquis roll off the assembly line at Ford Motor Co.'s Torrence Ave. plant on the far south side of Chicago. Chrysler Corp. produces the Plymouth Horizon and Turismo, as well as the Dodge Omni, Shelby Charger and Rampage pickup at its Belvidere assembly plant.
Besides fully assembled cars and trucks, major parts and components are produced by the automakers and their suppliers, including Chevrolet Caprice hoods, Olds 98 doors and Pontiac Sunbird fenders stamped out at General Motors Corp.'s stamping plant in suburban Willow Springs.
Moreover, Illinois is also the home of major heavy-duty truck, agricultural and off-road vehicles including Caterpillar Tractor Co., Deere & Co. and Intrenational Harvester Co.
The list of original equipment or replacement parts manufacturers with operations in Illinois reads like a Who's Who. It includes Borg-Warner Corp., Belden Corp., Robert Bosch Corp., the Brake Parts Div. of Echlin Manufacturing Co., Edelmann Div. of Parker-Hannifin Corp., Fel-Pro Inc., Littlefuse Inc., Maremont Corp., Midas-International Corp., Plastics Product Business of Rockwell International Corp., Stewart-Warner Corp., Sun Electric Corp. and Tenneco Inc.
The Automotive Parts & Accessories Assn. has 97 members in Illinois featuring a diverse line of products. Members include Ammco Tools, Amoco Oil, Champion Parts Rebuilders, Chapman Industries, Dupli-Color, Graphite Lubricants, Jensen Consoles, Microdot and The Protector Corp.
Inland Steel Co. and IH both have their headquarters in Illinois. The Harvester Scout utility vehicle may be gone, but the company still produces bearings, springs, screw machine parts and diesel engines in Illinois.
Assembly operations range from Ford's and Chrysler's well known lines of vehicles to lesser known trucks and truck suspensions produced by Hendrickson Manufacturing Corp.
Ford was an early pioneer in Illinois. In 1913, construction began on a 6-story assembly plant at 3915 Wabash Ave. in Chicago and Model T production got under way in March 1914.
It wasn't until 1923 that construction began for a new, larger assembly plant at 12600 S. Torrence Ave. in Chicago, a plant still operating today.
In 1924 Wabash assembly was transferred to Torrence. Production continued uninterrupted until 1942 when the plant began making armored cars for the Army.
In 1958 the first of what would be a series of 11 expansions took place at the Torrence plant when square footage was increased by 50%. The current Torrence facilities stand on a 66-acre (26.7 ha) site and contain more than 2.2 million sq. ft. (204,380 sq. m) of space.
It employs 3,000 people and has capacity to produce more than 225,000 cars yearly. Annual payroll tops $60 million. Since Ford's Chicago assembly operations began in 1914, its plants have produced more than 6.8-million vehicles.
Ford currently builds the midsize Ford LTD and Mercury Marquis at Torrence. Over the years it has been responsible for a wide variety of products.
The plant will play a major role in Ford's long term plans, too. Ford says it will build its 1986 model front-drive, six-passenger Taurus family sedans at Torrence. Ford will spend $156 million to modernize the plant and add a 120,000 sq.-ft. (11,148 sq.-m) building to house new body shop and paint facilities.
The work is scheduled to be completed in June 1985, and Taurus assembly will begin later that summer for 1986-model introduction. More than 100 robots will be installed for diverse operations such as painting and welding.
Ford's stamping plant in Chicago Heights produces components used in all Ford cars, from fenders to doors and deck lids.
In 1983 Torrence built 235,000 LTDs and Marquis, a production record, while Chicago Heights processed a record 274,000 tons (248,567 t) of steel. The two operations employ more than 6,000 workers, and the combined payroll exceeds $200 million annually. Ford also spends more than $200 million each year on local supplier purchases.
Chrysler began constructing its Belvidere assembly plant near Rockford in 1964. On July 7, 1965, the first car rolled off the assembly line. Chrysler produced the full-size, rear-wheel drive Plymouth Gran Fury, Dodge Monaco, and Chrysler Newport cars at Belvidere until Nov. 21, 1977, when it converted production to its first line of subcompact, fornt-drive domestic cars.
Between 1964 and 1977, Chrysler produced 2,232,515 rear-drive cars at Belvidere and since then more than 1.6-million front-drive cars for a total of more than 3.8-million vehicles.
Peak production was 318,106 Omnis and Horizons built there in 1979. Employment totaled a high of 6,440 in 1973 but now stands at 4,100 as the plant builds 1,085 cars daily on two shifts.
