Oakland Assembly circa 1917 with Oakland Hills in the background

Oakland Assembly was a former Chevrolet manufacturing facility located in Elmhurst, Oakland, California. 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 began on Sept. 23, 1916,[1] while World War I was taking place (July 28, 1914 – November 11, 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 producing munitions, Pratt & Whitney aircraft engines, 90mm guns and billions of pounds of aluminum forgings, magnesium castings and grey iron castings. The Chevrolet Fleetline remained in production during the war but only for military uses.[2] It received the United States Army-Navy "E" Award for operational excellence. It was approximately 6 miles east of the former Naval Air Station Alameda.

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" 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. 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:

See also

References

37°46′07″N 122°10′33″W / 37.768675°N 122.175842°W / 37.768675; -122.175842

  1. ↑ "Built across the nation". Autonews.com. 2011-10-31. Retrieved 2015-02-17.
  2. ↑ "The Chevrolet Story 1911-1958" (PDF). GM Heritage Center. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
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