Fleetwood Metal Body was an
automobile
A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods.
The year 1886 is regarded ...
coachbuilder
A coachbuilder or body-maker is someone who manufactures bodies for passenger-carrying vehicles.Construction has always been a skilled trade requiring a relatively lightweight product with sufficient strength. The manufacture of necessarily ...
formed on April 1, 1909. The company name was derived from
Fleetwood, Pennsylvania
Fleetwood, also called ''Schlegelschteddel'' in Pennsylvania Dutch, is a borough in Berks County, Pennsylvania. The population was 4,085 at the 2010 census. It was home to the Fleetwood Metal Body company, an automobile coachbuilder purchased ...
, home of the company at the start, and lived on for decades in the form of the
Cadillac Fleetwood
The Cadillac Fleetwood is a model of luxury car that was manufactured by the Cadillac division of General Motors between 1976 and 1996. The "Fleetwood" name was previously used as a prefix on several of Cadillac's models dating back to 1935. F ...
and various Fleetwood trim lines on
Cadillac
The Cadillac Motor Car Division () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM) that designs and builds luxury vehicles. Its major markets are the United States, Canada, and China. Cadillac models are distributed ...
cars. As of 2022, the remaining original buildings of Fleetwood Metal Body are undergoing restoration and renovation into loft-style apartments.
Fleetwood
The Fleetwood, Pennsylvania facility is located at 69 South Franklin Street. The business was relocated to Detroit in 1931 but the structure remains.
It was a top-tier producer of
coachbuilt metal and wood automobile bodies. Fleetwood bodies graced cars owned by royalty of India and Japan, American presidents, and screen stars like
Rudolph Valentino
Rodolfo Pietro Filiberto Raffaello Guglielmi di Valentina d'Antonguolla (May 6, 1895 – August 23, 1926), known professionally as Rudolph Valentino and nicknamed The Latin Lover, was an Italian actor based in the United States who starred ...
. Fleetwood produced bespoke bodies on chassis from
Bentley
Bentley Motors Limited is a British designer, manufacturer and marketer of luxury cars and SUVs. Headquartered in Crewe, England, the company was founded as Bentley Motors Limited by W. O. Bentley (1888–1971) in 1919 in Cricklewood, Nort ...
,
Cadillac
The Cadillac Motor Car Division () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM) that designs and builds luxury vehicles. Its major markets are the United States, Canada, and China. Cadillac models are distributed ...
,
Daniels,
Duesenberg
Duesenberg Automobile and Motors Company, Inc. was an American racing and luxury automobile manufacturer founded in Indianapolis, Indiana, by brothers Fred and August Duesenberg in 1920. The company is known for popularizing the straight-e ...
,
Fiat
Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. (, , ; originally FIAT, it, Fabbrica Italiana Automobili di Torino, lit=Italian Automobiles Factory of Turin) is an Italian automobile manufacturer, formerly part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and since 2021 a subsidiar ...
,
Isotta Fraschini
Isotta Fraschini () was an Italian luxury car manufacturer, also producing trucks, as well as engines for marine and aviation use. Founded in Milan, Italy, in 1900 by Cesare Isotta and the brothers Vincenzo, Antonio, and Oreste Fraschini, in 19 ...
,
Lincoln
Lincoln most commonly refers to:
* Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States
* Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England
* Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S.
* Lincol ...
,
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquarte ...
,
Packard
Packard or Packard Motor Car Company was an American luxury automobile company located in Detroit, Michigan. The first Packard automobiles were produced in 1899, and the last Packards were built in South Bend, Indiana in 1958.
One of the "Th ...
,
Pierce-Arrow,
Rolls-Royce
Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to:
* Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct
Automobiles
* Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...
,
SGV, and
Stutz
The Stutz Motor Car Company, was an American producer of high-end sports and luxury cars based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Production began in 1911 and ended in 1935.
Stutz was known as a producer of fast cars including America's first spo ...
.
Bodies were manufactured according to the customer's specifications, then sent by rail to the
rolling chassis
A rolling chassis is the chassis without bodywork of a motor vehicle ( car, truck, bus, or other vehicle), assembled with suspension and wheels.
Heavy vehicles
Separate chassis remain in use for almost all heavy vehicles ranging from pickup ...
manufacturer where assembly was completed. Most of the bodywork crafted in Pennsylvania was used by Packard, with the rest of production being split between Cadillac and Lincoln.
Purchase by Fisher
Fleetwood was purchased by
Fisher Body
Fisher Body was an automobile coachbuilder founded by the Fisher brothers in 1908 in Detroit, Michigan. A division of General Motors for many years, in 1984 it was dissolved to form other General Motors divisions. Fisher & Company (originally All ...
in 1925, and became an
OEM provider of bodies for
Detroit Assembly
Detroit Assembly (also known as Detroit Cadillac, Cadillac Assembly or Clark Street Assembly) was a General Motors automobile factory in Detroit, Michigan on Clark Street, south of Michigan Avenue (U.S. Route 12). It began operations in 1921 and C ...
on Clark Street, and integrated into General Motors in 1931. The factory was located at the southwest corner of Fort Street and West End Street in the Detroit neighborhood of
Delray, approximately 2 miles east of the
Ford River Rouge Complex. The
Fisher Freeway was named for the original factory location, which later became known as Fisher Plant #18. The location was closed in 1987 when manufacturing was transferred to the
Detroit/Hamtramck Assembly
Detroit/Hamtramck Assembly, also called Factory Zero, is a General Motors automobile assembly plant straddling the border between Detroit and Hamtramck, Michigan. It is located about three miles (five km) from GM's corporate headquarters. Wh ...
factory, and the site was redeveloped as the Container Port Group Detroit facility.
Similar to
LeBaron, Fleetwood continued to build bespoke bodies for several years, mainly for Cadillac. In the early 1930s Fleetwood-bodied Cadillacs often wore a trim piece denoting a sweep panel
across
cowl
A cowl is an item of clothing consisting of a long, hooded garment with wide sleeves, often worn by monks.
Originally it may have referred simply to the hooded portion of a cloak. In contemporary usage, however, it is distinguished from a clo ...
and
hood. After 1934 and before Fleetwood was made a model name of Cadillac, it was responsible for elaborate detailing on expensive Cadillacs with standard bodies.Some Cadillacs up until the 1970's had a Interior by Fleetwood,
Body by Fisher tag on some door sill plates.
See also
*
Cadillac Fleetwood
The Cadillac Fleetwood is a model of luxury car that was manufactured by the Cadillac division of General Motors between 1976 and 1996. The "Fleetwood" name was previously used as a prefix on several of Cadillac's models dating back to 1935. F ...
References
External links
Fleetwood Historical Society
{{Authority control
Coachbuilders of the United States
Luxury motor vehicle manufacturers
Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United States
American companies established in 1909
Former General Motors subsidiaries
Companies based in Berks County, Pennsylvania
Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1909
Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1931
1909 establishments in Pennsylvania
1931 disestablishments in Pennsylvania
1925 mergers and acquisitions
Defunct manufacturing companies based in Pennsylvania