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C6 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday, July 28, 1999 AUTOMOTIVE Viper production line a heavenly trea t By VINCENT ROBINET SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER If you've ever wondered what auto­motive heaven might look like, there's a pretty good inkling in Warren, Mich. Chrysler recently invited a group of Canadian journalists to visit the home of its leading-edge sports car the Dodge Viper, and since 1997, the pro­ duction facility for America's only fac­ tory produced street rod, the Plymouth Prowler. Both vehicles are used to test new materials and production techniques that may someday find their way into Chrysler's mass-produced cars. Team Viper was formed in 1988 to produce a concept car that could accel­ erate from 0- 100 mph and back to 0 again in less than 15 seconds. Within a year a one-of-a-kind Viper RT/10 show car was displayed at the North American auto show in Detroit on January 4, 1989. Public reaction to the concept car was overwhelming. Team Viper then prepared plans for a pro­ duction car within three years. From the beginning, the Viper team was unlike any other group within Chrysler. Team Viper set off in its own direction to break away from the usual production methods, and form its own supplier base. The home of the Viper and Prowler is found on Conner Road in Detroit. With only 200 hourly workers, 20 skilled trades people, 30 salaried man­ agers, and 10 resident engineers it must surely qualify as the smallest automo­ bile production plant in North America. The hourly workers are members of the United Autoworkers union, but they have the special designation of "Craftsperson". This places their hourly wage slightly above other Chrysler production workers, but because there is no overtime at the plant, they make less money annually. The plant only operates during the day, Monday to Friday, so employees have their evenings and weekends off to spend with their families. Many employees also take advantage of this Finished Vipers and Prowlers waiting to be shipped from the special production facility in Detroit time to take night school courses. Because the plant is small, it has no robots, and the traditional moving assembly line is replaced by worksta­ tions. The cars spend 20 minutes per station on the Prowler line, or 30 min­ utes per station on the Viper line while the teams perform a number of opera­ tions, and then review their work with a computerized checklist. When the work is completed at a given station, a button is pressed, and a green light above the station is lit. When all of the stations are showing A production-line workers tends to the drive shaft of a V10 Viper. a green light, the cars advance to the next stations. The emphasis here is on quality- control. Each Viper chassis is tested on a dynamometer and run through the gears. For every 10 cars driven off the line one is taken for a thorough going over to make sure that the fit and finish as well as other standards of produc­ tion remain high. Plant manager John Hinkley -- him­ self a Ferrari owner -- invited a friend from the Ferrari plant to take a tour of the Viper production line. What impressed the Ferrari man most was a computerized device used to align all four wheels with the suspension in compression, bounce and jounce states. It's the only device that can align wheels in all of those modes. Viper owners are told that unless they hit a curb they shouldn't let anyone touch their alignment, because no alignment shop can be as accurate. With a production capacity of 13 Vipers and 20 Prowlers a day, the plant has a capacity to produce 3,120 Vipers, and 4,800 Prowlers a year, but actual production numbers are lower. They F O R D F A C T O R Y A U T H O R I Z E D SUDIBIfR SELL-OFF % A 1999 Ford Taurus and Mercury Sable are the only cars in their class to earn five stars - the highest possible U.S. Government crash test rating - for both the driver and front passenger ' / U MONTH PURCHASE FINANCING ON NEW IN-STOCK UEHICLES. FINANCE VOUR ENTIRE PURCHASE, INCLUDING TAKES AND PAY NO INTEREST. The 1999 Windstar is the only minivan to get a Five Star Safety Rating, five years in a row * If you have a news tip or story idea, call the Oakville Beaver at 845- 3824. expect to build 1,200 Vipers this year, 100 of those will be sent to Europe, and between 130 to 150 will come to Canada. Eventually they hope to pro­ duce enough cars to satisfy the demands of every dealer. But for now only dealers that meet the requirements of Chrysler's Five Star program qualify as Viper and Prowler dealers. Canadian content is present in both cars, but the Prowler seems to have the largest number of parts from this coun­ try. Its fuel tank is made by Solvay, springs and shocks come from Merritor, Siemens provides air induc­ tion parts, seats, facias, and bumpers are made by divisions of Magna Corp., and Duralcan supplies material for alu­ minum brake rotors. The shipping facility is unlike any other in the North American auto indus­ try. If you should choose to have your car delivered to a dealer, it's loaded onto an enclosed a tractor-trailer inside of the building and doesn't see the light of day until it arrives at the dealership. Daimler Chrysler views customer involvement as a large part of the Viper experience. They're currently the only North American plant that allows buy­ ers to pick up their new cars from the factory. Customers arrive in the morn­ ing, are given breakfast, and a tour of the production line, then they are taken to the shipping facilities at the back of the plant where they can load their car onto a trailer or drive it away. There are Viper owner clubs across the United States, three in Canada, one in Switzerland, one in Japan as well as nine in other countries. The demo­ graphics of ownerships are largely male-dominated with 95 per cent men and only 5.0 per cent women. Earlier this year Daimler Chrysler sponsored the fifth Viper owners Invitational in Las Vegas. On April 22 800 Vipers showed up for the four-day event, and a quarter of the 5,000 rooms at the MGM Grand Hotel were booked. Opening festivities were hosted by Jay Leno. Owners' had a chance to have fun, bond with engineers and executives and express their opinions on what changes should be made to future Vipers. One thing they heard over and over was 'Don't turned it into a Corvette'. In other words keep it a muscle car pure and simple, don't add a digital dash board, and other frills that take away from the original concept. One thing I kept hearing from peo­ ple working at the plant that day was "I have the best job in the car business". When you consider that they are responsible for building a V10 sports car with 450 horsepower and America's only production street rod, it's easy to understand their enthusi­ asm. '99 EXPLORER 2-DR '99 EXPLORER 4-DR '99 MYSTIQUE '99 CONTOUR REMEMBER THE SUHIIYIER SELL-OFF CAN ONLY LAST AS LONG AS THE SELECTION DOES. SO HURRY IN. FORD Visit our website at: www.ford.ca/offers/ D E A L E R S w r i , e d ^ u s f ^ e r f B a f°"' E" ° '> 'Z«'C°"tour/Tau.us/W inds.ar, Explore, & Mercury Mysfique/Sable for a max,mum of 48 month, on approved ^ 1 . x . l ™ h L 9 5 annual percentage rate for 48 months, monthly payment $520 83. cost of borrow,ng $0 and total to be repaid ,s $25,000 with $0 down payment This is a £ <1 may a,equ'red kinarKlnd ° «e r does not apply to licence and insurance fees. Dealer may sell for less Offer may change wrthout nonce Limned time L , « n ^ r n" S G o ^ r n m T ^ t o T n l^ H n h w f 7 " f f 'c . S T * 'TFZ*, ™" aPP * " ,he ° 'adua,S' CaSh BaCk p,09' am d H le ' <" frontal impact rating foe both the drive, and front ? o v e 3 m T T « T . 9^ y * Ad" " n,« ' a,'° " vehicles withm 227 kg (500 lbs) «The highest frontal impact rating fo, both the driver and front passenger in US Government National Highway Traffic Safety Administration testing for vehicles within 227 kg (500 lbs) and with a base MSRP under $30,000 Ontario FMDA PO Box 2000 Oakville Ontario L6J 5E4 Accredited Test & Repair Facility From $ Q y 95 MOST % -w -r disc? CARS From f # drums 95 BEAR I Includes new shoes or pads, repack wheel bearings, resurface drums | & rotors and inspect entire system. Metallic pads included. ■ M ust jpresent coupon Exp ires Aug 4/99 SUMMER CHECK-UP- | • Lube, a l i filter 10W30 • Check anb-freeze and levels | • Check brakes and adjust • Check exhaust for leaks , ^ ■ 'Check tires & front end 'C h e ck all lights I • Check belts & hoses • Rotate bres • Ser^ce battery terminals * * * ' ^ • • Check tune-up • New Car Warranty approved TUNE-UP ■ indudes new spark plugs, cfteck a« tune-up components . set up & adjust engine. & service battery 4cyt.-59 .95 6 cyt. *69.96 8 0 * * 7 9 .9 5 Must present coupon at time ot estimate. . Expires Aug. 4 /99 j i T i ' ( g u u p u « c n p f > 7 i i i i Fits m any cars. Pipes, clam ps & hangers extra. Not to De combined with any other offer (warranty I work excluded) t yr warranty Musi present coupon Ext - -- I t : A si $ 1 / of purchase, only front e 10.00 labour charge 39: ixpires Aug 499 I ALIGNMENT SPECIAL! SA T E T Y C H E C K S | Includes front end inspection, road test. I A w w a a f I " X r&ca; ^ " â ' 5 0 0 9 5 MOST CARS & Must present $ O ̂ ^ 9 5 I LIGHT TRUCKS coupon at lime v i „ M m 9 chase. # 2 wheel 1 Ontario Government Inspection. Any work from end inspection performed I re9u'rê k k safety check over the value of $150 , _______________ | ♦ taxes, performed by this location, safety is appicabie. Expires Aug 4/99 | check is no charg^g u*se™cow(x>a P>»tSBse | r U m r' nS.'e" STtoV BALANCE 8 ROTATC1LOBE, OIL 8 FILTER , We will • Change your oil (up to 5 litres of 10W30 > Quaker State) & filter , • Lubricate front end ! Check air pressure - all levels unrter hrwf' 4 TIRES 1 Flebalance al k x r Ires to mawnee wear and ride comfort Rtfate a l k w ties to m axrize wear and Imemeke D iscount Mufflers Quality Undercar Specialists Oakville ... 50 1 S p e e rs R d . U n it # 2 ... (N ext to Budd's Im ported Cars) 2 - ^ 9 f f REE U ndercar Inspection 8c Estimate N ationwide Lifetime G uarantees OPEN M O N . - FRI. 8 A M -6 PM SA TU R DA Y ft A M -4 PM MUST PRESENT COUPON FOR ALL SPECIALS NOT TO BE COMBINED WITH ANY OTHER OFFER http://www.ford.ca/offers/ AUTOMOTIVE By VINCENT ROBINET /U MONTH DEALERS $Qy95 MOST %-w-r 95 iTi'(guupu« cnpf>7iii i 39: r Umr' nS.'e" STtoV BALANCE 8 ROTATC1 LOBE, OIL 8 FILTER , 4 TIRES Quality Undercar Specialists