Oakland Assembly was a former

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ous ...

manufacturing facility located in

Elmhurst, Oakland, California Elmhurst is a residential neighborhood in the southernmost part of Oakland, California. Originally a separate unincorporated town, it was annexed by Oakland in 1909, and today is considered part of East Oakland. It lies at an elevation of 39 feet ...

. It was the first automobile plant established in Northern California to build Chevrolet vehicles. In 1916, Chevrolet opened the auto industry's first West Coast assembly plant in Oakland. Production of the

Chevrolet Series 490 The Chevrolet Series 490 (or Four-Ninety) is an early American automobile, made from 1915 to 1922 by Chevrolet. Introduced in June 1915, the 490 sold for $490 ($ in dollars ). Chevrolet 490 was an immediate success and established the brand as ...

began on Sept. 23, 1916, while

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

was taking place (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918). The plant stopped producing automobiles for commercial use on January 30 1942 until August 20 1945, and contributed to the war effort during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

producing munitions, Pratt & Whitney aircraft engines, 90mm guns and billions of pounds of aluminum forgings, magnesium castings and grey iron castings. The

Chevrolet Fleetline The Chevrolet Special Deluxe Series AH Fleetline is an automobile which was produced by US automaker Chevrolet from 1941 to 1952. From 1946 to 1948 it was a sub-series of the Chevrolet Fleetmaster rather than a series of the Special Deluxe and ...

remained in production during the war but only for military uses. It received the United States

Army-Navy "E" Award The Army-Navy "E" Award was an honor presented to companies during World War II whose production facilities achieved "Excellence in Production" ("E") of war equipment. The award was also known as the Army-Navy Production Award. The award was cr ...

for operational excellence. It was approximately 6 miles east of the former

Naval Air Station Alameda Naval Air Station Alameda (NAS Alameda) was a United States Navy Naval Air Station in Alameda, California, on San Francisco Bay. NAS Alameda had two runways: 13–31 measuring and 07-25 measuring . Two helicopter pads and a control tower were ...

. When commercial manufacturing resumed, Chevrolet's most well known vehicles during the 1950s were built at the facility, to include the so called "

Tri-Five In automobile parlance, Tri-Five refers to the 1955, 1956 and 1957 Chevrolet automobiles, in particular, the 150, 210, Bel Air, and Nomad. Revolutionary in their day, they spawned a cult following that exists in clubs, websites and even entire ...

" 1955–1957 Chevrolet coupes, sedans and station wagons. The factory was recognized that the facility needed to be upgraded for more modern manufacturing methods and in the summer of 1963, it was replaced by

Fremont Assembly Fremont Assembly was a General Motors automobile factory in Fremont, California in the San Francisco area, replacing the older Oakland Assembly. Groundbreaking for the plant occurred in September 1961, and the plant produced its first vehicle on ...

. It is now the Eastmont Town Center at the corner of 73rd Street and MacArthur Blvd.

Models

Some of the models produced at the plant included: *1915-1922

*1923-1926

Chevrolet Superior The Chevrolet Superior Series F was launched in 1923, manufactured by Chevrolet for four years with a different series per year. The 1923 model was known as the Series B, the 1924 model was the Series F, for 1925 it was known as the Series K and ...

(introduction of GM "A" platform) *1927

Chevrolet Series AA Capitol The Chevrolet Series AA Capitol (or Chevrolet Capitol) is an American vehicle manufactured by Chevrolet in 1927. Launched in the year Ford changed from the Model T to the Model A, Chevrolet sold 1,001,820 Series AA cars, and under the direction ...

*1928

Chevrolet Series AB National The Chevrolet Series AB National (or Chevrolet National) is an American vehicle manufactured by Chevrolet in 1928 to replace the 1927 Series AA Capitol. Documented production numbers show that 1,193,212 Series ABs were manufactured in a variety ...

*1929

Chevrolet Series AC International The Chevrolet Series AC International is an American vehicle manufactured by Chevrolet in 1929 to replace the 1928 Series AB National. In all, 1,328,605 Series ACs were manufactured in a range of ten body styles, with 73,918 from Oshawa. The Ser ...

*1930

Chevrolet Series AD Universal The Chevrolet Series AD Universal or Chevrolet Universal AD is a Chevrolet car which began sales in 1930. Available in a variety of body types including as a 2-door coupe, 4-door sedan and a delivery van. Total production was down due to the Wa ...

*1931

Chevrolet Series AE Independence The Chevrolet Series AE Independence (or Chevrolet Independence) is an American vehicle manufactured by Chevrolet in 1931 to replace the 1930 Series AD Universal. Calendar year production slipped by about eight percent to 627,104 cars as the Gre ...

*1932

Chevrolet Series BA Confederate The Chevrolet Series BA Confederate (or Chevrolet Confederate) is an American vehicle manufactured by Chevrolet in 1932 to replace the 1931 Series AE Independence. Production slipped significantly from over 600,000 cars to 323,100 for the model ...

*1933

Chevrolet Eagle The Chevrolet Series CA Eagle and Master is an American vehicle manufactured by Chevrolet in 1933 to replace the 1932 Series BA Confederate. The car was called "Eagle" early in the 1933 production year. When it was joined by the cheaper Chevrole ...

*1933-1936

Chevrolet Standard Six The Chevrolet Standard (Series DC) was launched in 1933, initially as the Chevrolet Standard Mercury, by Chevrolet as a lower priced alternative to the 1932 Chevrolet Series BA Confederate that became the Chevrolet Eagle, Master Eagle in 1933 and ...

*1933-1942

Chevrolet Master The Chevrolet Master and Master Deluxe are American passenger vehicles manufactured by Chevrolet between 1933 and 1942 to replace the 1933 Master Eagle. It was the more expensive model in the Chevrolet range at this time, with the Standard Merc ...

*1941-1952

Chevrolet Deluxe The Chevrolet Deluxe is a trim line of Chevrolet automobiles that was marketed from 1941 to 1952, and was the volume sales leader for the market during the 1940s. The line included at first a 4-door sedan, but grew to include a fastback 2-door " ...

*1953-1957

Chevrolet 150 The Chevrolet One-Fifty (or 150) was the economy/fleet model of the Chevrolet car from 1953 until 1957. It took its name by shortening the production series number (1500) by one digit in order to capitalize on the numerical auto name trend of the ...

Chevrolet 210 The Chevrolet 210 or Two-Ten is a midrange car from Chevrolet that was marketed from 1953 until 1957. It took its name by shortening the production series number 2100 by one digit in order to capitalize on the 1950s trend toward numerical auto na ...

Chevrolet Townsman The Chevrolet Townsman was a full-size station wagon produced by Chevrolet from 1953 to 1957 and again from 1969 to 1972. 1953–1957 The Townsman name was first used in 1953 on the 210 series four-door station wagon, and used the GM A platf ...

*1960-1963

Chevrolet Corvair The Chevrolet Corvair is a compact car manufactured by Chevrolet for model years 1960–1969 in two generations. A response to the Volkswagen Beetle, it remains the only American-designed, mass-produced passenger car with a rear-mounted, air- ...

References

External links

Photo of Oakland Assembly and manufactured Chevrolet ready for deliveryOakland Wiki page for this factory
General Motors factories Former motor vehicle assembly plants Motor vehicle assembly plants in California Companies based in Oakland, California History of Oakland, California Industrial buildings completed in 1916 Manufacturing companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1916 Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1963 1916 establishments in California 1963 disestablishments in California Defunct companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area {{Auto-factory-stub

Models

See also

References

External links