1984 zaragoza nova corsa plant vist pics

[B99LCD]

Here's the scans of some prints taken on a 1984 Vauxhall Dealer Sales Managers' trip to Barcelona, the highlights being a visit to the newly built Nova/Corsa plant in Saragossa, SE Spain. At the time, it was the most advanced car factory in the world and huge tax concessions and grants from the Spanish government meant that GM were persuaded to build in this fairly remote and largely rural area which was suffering from high unemployment.

Approaching by road across a wide plain, the plant was visible well in advance of arrival and the vast building seemed the size of a small town. We were told that everything apart from glass, tyres and batteries were made on site under one roof and that all the cars produced were despatched by rail, linking with the mainland of Europe and seaports for export to the rest of the world.

The factory was heavily automated and the press shop and body assembly processes were heavily robotised. The lighting was subdued, the sound levels bordering on eerie and there was a noticeable lack of human activity. Compared with other factories I have visited, it was a completely calm, spotless and stress free environment - very unusual for the period.

We weren't supposed to take pictures on the tour, so these were sneakily taken and hand held on slow film at 1/10 sec so they are not the sharpest images I'm afraid, but they capture some of the flavour of the place.


This is one of half a dozen rows of virtually silent presses with panels being removed on rubber rollers and lifted up to roof level to be guided to the right place at precisely the right time for assembly on the production line:

http://www.imageurlhost.com/images/1iwsvsvsg9qahwex021h.jpg



Hard to see clearly, but through the gap are the robot arms spot welding the side panel to the floor, roof and screen panels etc.

http://www.imageurlhost.com/images/8v1zsgbn27vzugxpqaf6.jpg




You want side panels? We got side panels.

http://www.imageurlhost.com/images/5k5q4jwvrmbausdax68y.jpg






Shells moved at a slow walking place, up and down lines which were each about 50 metres long. Every car was visually inspected for tolerances and on the 180 turn at the end of the line, every fifth car was taken off and check with a vernier. At this part of the assembly, these inspectors were the only human presence.

http://www.imageurlhost.com/images/miboyq51hhwwudjcj5xn.jpg





http://www.imageurlhost.com/images/j7nhqn4301074jw9gzb3.jpg




http://www.imageurlhost.com/images/j350ur7nd986s2fe94wt.jpg





http://www.imageurlhost.com/images/jh0bba2ar5yyl30e48w.jpg




We weren't allowed access to the paint shop but this was the inspection area immediately outside.

http://www.imageurlhost.com/images/w5uccae5inavgfj1j6.jpg





If you were wondering what the flowerpots were doing hanging off the front valance, they were radio transmitters that stored all the order details and VIN etc. There was a James Bond villain type control centre upstairs which had a huge electronic map of the plant, including the railway sidings outside. By punching in the order number, one could see a red light appear on the map where that car was located, so progress could be accurately monitored and no car could get lost!

http://www.imageurlhost.com/images/k9x6550tbiy5lu0zq4.jpg






No Spaniard in the works jokes please ;)

http://www.imageurlhost.com/images/7qinpc7v5pbymyxrzo4.jpg




Surely these large round fog lamps were an Opel option only? The assembly workers worked in teams of 5 or 6 and had their own work station base, each with Coke machine, table and chairs, sink, microwave and toilet.

http://www.imageurlhost.com/images/u6dlr68nlggg1kfksu7.jpg





You'll believe a Nova can fly!

http://www.imageurlhost.com/images/s52tislvqdq25xkbxi7o.jpg





This was the final rectification area where cars with unresolved issues awaited attention. The total area was about 4 times larger than shown here and this Corsa was the only car present. We were challenged to find what the problem was and twenty smarty pants sales managers clambered all over it and were highly miffed not to be able to find anything wrong. The answer was that the right side had Vauxhall pattern wheels and the left side Opel ones. We didn't spot it because we couldn't see both sides of the car at once - that's my excuse anyway!

http://www.imageurlhost.com/images/eqtspfjwhf7sun007rtx.jpg


It was a very memorable visit and it impressed me enough to buy a new Nova Swing, B333 GWV, the first of three and the Sport B99 LCD.

[amggsi]

Nice to see that, thanks for sharing.

[dgbnova#1]

Some great photos there, think there's a few sheds in the uk that look like those racks lol

[bazil]

Great post

Rep given for taking the time to scan, upload and post :)

On a personal note its fantastic to see the semi assembled shell,

[chris862]

Really great to see! thanks for sharing :thumb:

[Dave.]

Awesome pics... much appreciated :thumb:

[NoVaBoOt26]

This is a really interesting read and pictures are great cheers mate +rep

[Edd]

Great write up

+rep

[chrisd1986]

Possibly the most interesting thread ive seen in a while

[mk1nova_rich]

Thanks for sharing that, great read and pics :)

[scott.parker]

Awesome, i wonder how many pictured are still around now?...

[Vlietje]

Great! I've been there in 1998 for a factory tour, shame they did the Corsa B by then... I have these pics somewhere..
And I have a mag here from 1985 with an article in it regarding the logistics from Zaragoza to Vlissingen (NL) by boat. Will scan in some pics asap.

[nova_niek]

Thanks for posting this. Excellent and as said, one of the best threads! :thumb:

[bazzap8389]

Great post, very interesting :thumb:

[16v]

Thanks for posting that! Just wish I had a few of them panels now lol. I had a gte a few years back which had them fog lights in the bumper. The bumper had been cut to fit them! I thought it was an aftermarket job but ther was a receipt in the book from the gm dealer as an optional extra lol sadly the car was to rottin to save an I broke it but I think I have a pic somewhere

[16v]

Found the photo didn't remember that the drivers fog lamp had been taken off or maybe it fell off lol but you can see we're it was and you can see the other one!

http://i438.photobucket.com/albums/qq104/davegtcoupe/DSC_0483_zps7946d8ac.jpg

[bazil]

Thanks for posting that! Just wish I had a few of them panels now lol. I had a gte a few years back which had them fog lights in the bumper. The bumper had been cut to fit them! I thought it was an aftermarket job but ther was a receipt in the book from the gm dealer as an optional extra lol sadly the car was to rottin to save an I broke it but I think I have a pic somewhere

The GTE bumper has outlines to cut out holes for those spotlights on the inside of the bumper aswell as the front foglight blank switch in the dash,

[Count Vaux Alot]

Nice pics!

Do I spy engine in from the bottom there!

[L14MNP]

Possibly the most interesting thread ive seen in a while

Indeed.

Top post, OP.

[L14MNP]

Nice pics!

Do I spy engine in from the bottom there!

I can't imagine any car factory would swing it in from the top.

Surely all employ a 'marriage conveyor' type of arrangement, where all of the running gear is 'married' to the chassis from below.

[EwanG]

These pics and your write up are amazing, thanks very much :). Your rep is gona go through the roof with this thread! +rep :thumb: .

[Pete]

Wow, honestly one of the best things I've read on the net recently. as already stated, thanks for taking the time out to scan, upload and do a write up. +rep

[Pistol Pete]

Nice pics!

Do I spy engine in from the bottom there!

99.9% stuff the engine/transmission up from the underside.
Working in automotive production, I found this very interesting.

[tommy8252]

This is a massively interesting read. More +rep

[therealnovaboy]

Thanks for posting. It makes me realise how sad i am when i get impressed by posts like this.

there is some more photos over on opel-corsa-a.com. its a great site and has loads of info for us nova-geeks.

http://www.opel-corsa-a.com/index.php?seite=Zaragoza/Zaragoza.htm

http://www.microsofttranslator.com/bv.aspx?&lo=TP&from=de&to=en&a=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.opel-corsa-a.com%2Findex.php%3Fseite%3DZaragoza%2FZaragoza.ht m

[A11VXL]

Fantastic write up many thanks for taking the time to post this up, great read.

[B99LCD]

[QUOTE=A11VXL;2202698]Fantastic write up many thanks for taking the time to post this up, great read.[/QUOTE

The radio transmitters were clipped to the flange on the front valance before painting and removed when the cars were on the train. This means that under the plastic trim, there is a 10mm square area on the flange that is bare metal and unprotected. We thought at the time that this would be a place where rusting would start quite quickly and I waxoiled mine there when it was new. Does anyone know if experience has born this out and this is where the valances began to rust?

[B99LCD]

Thanks to everyone for reps and kind comments. I am just glad I could share the pics after all these years!

[therealnovaboy]

[QUOTE=A11VXL;2202698]Fantastic write up many thanks for taking the time to post this up, great read.[/QUOTE

The radio transmitters were clipped to the flange on the front valance before painting and removed when the cars were on the train. This means that under the plastic trim, there is a 10mm square area on the flange that is bare metal and unprotected. We thought at the time that this would be a place where rusting would start quite quickly and I waxoiled mine there when it was new. Does anyone know if experience has born this out and this is where the valances began to rust?


Is that it? I cant remember if mine was. TBH i think they are primered with just overspray on the bottom side of the front valance

http://www.opel-corsa-a.com/Zaragoza/Zaragoza41.jpg

[mowgli]

i'm fascinated by the pics, but slightly saddened to find that the reason the rear beams weren't put on straight was actually the fault of a badly set up robot & not some bloke with a large moustache

[tommy8252]

i'm fascinated by the pics, but slightly saddened to find that the reason the rear beams weren't put on straight was actually the fault of a badly set up robot & not some bloke with a large moustache

It does however mean that 1 in 5 cars were measured for tolerance and the moustachioed man deemed it fine and couldn't be arsed to have the robot setup properly.

[duick]

Some very great pics here :thumb::thumb::thumb:
Even I have collected a LOT of pictures during all those years (you can see a few of them on my website), I'm always fascinated to view some more and discover some details.


The radio transmitters were clipped to the flange on the front valance before painting and removed when the cars were on the train. This means that under the plastic trim, there is a 10mm square area on the flange that is bare metal and unprotected. We thought at the time that this would be a place where rusting would start quite quickly and I waxoiled mine there when it was new. Does anyone know if experience has born this out and this is where the valances began to rust?

On every front valance is a metal bracket to which the transponder was attached. I've never seen that it's not painted. But you're right, the transponder was on the car when it was painted. If a car does not have that bracket, the valance was maybe once replaced.

http://www.opel-corsa-a.com/Zaragoza/Zaragoza37.jpg



And I have a mag here from 1985 with an article in it regarding the logistics from Zaragoza to Vlissingen (NL) by boat. Will scan in some pics asap.

The pics from that magazine are on my site, at the bottom of the Zaragoza article
http://www.opel-corsa-a.com/index_e.php?seite=Zaragoza/Zaragoza_e.htm

(http://www.opel-corsa-a.com/index_e.php?seite=Zaragoza/Zaragoza_e.htm)

[Southie]

Really enjoyed the write up, makes a change seeing some real nostalgia from back in the day ;)