Body Bountiful, 1955

My father worked for General Motors-Fisher Body in Detroit and later at the General Motors Technical Canter in Warren, Michigan. Dad was a skilled woodworker who made full scale models of GM automobiles , and wood die models of automobile parts out of wood. I remember as a young boy and again as a teenager, touring his shop at the Technical Center. It was exciting to see where he worked and what he did. All but a few glimpses of the new wood and clay models were covered from view, but it was so interesting. Before going to work for Fisher Body, Dad made custom laminated wood fishing nets, tennis rachets, and hockey sticks and fine wood cabinets in his shop in the village of Laurium, in Michigan's Copper Country in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. His work with wood was not only functional but also art. Dad taught me a lot about woodworking as a boy and I have loved to work with wood all my life. I remember always looking at his hands and admired what he could do with them. Even today, when I look at photos of my dad, I am still drawn to his hands, the hands of a skilled woodworker and fine craftsman. I have my dad's Body by Fisher badges and carriage pins in a safe place. Thank you, dad, for all the wonderful memories you helped create for me. Thank you for sharing this very interesting history of Body by Fisher.

My wife was surprised to see her uncle in this video! He put in 45 years at Fisher in the design department!

This YouTube video brings back a fond memory I have of my mom bringing her brand new, 1969 Pontiac Catalina home. She proudly showed off her new car to me (I was four (4) years old at the time) and when she opened the driver's front door, she directed my attention towards the bottom, center of the door opening (an aluminum plate), saying to me as she glowed with pride: "See Freddie; she has a body by Fisher! They are really good bodies"! Right afterwards, my mom promptly showed me something that I had never known even existed. My mom directed me to the front bumper of her new Catalina and once again, she proudly stated: "She even has a rubber nose"! As a young child, I had no idea that a car having a "rubber nose" was a "real thing". Fifty two (52) years into the future, the cars built back in the sixties, compared to cars of today's vintage, have very little in common anymore. Well, at least the "rubber bumper" carried on over the years and still exists even on new cars! This new, sky-blue, 1969 Catalina car was very special to my mother. She loved that car so much. Nowadays, I can only pray that my momma is driving a brand new, sky-blue, sparkling, 1969 Pontiac Catalina around up in heaven, with no traffic. I love and miss you so much momma... Your Freddie

I tell you, it's a crime of a shame, of how you can count on the fingers of one hand, the number of people who appreciate what goes into a manufactured product, not only cars

History shows that many great things came from this era; great engineering product from post war. Supermarkets, great cars, fast food, suburbia, space program, jet age, great music, television, computers, etc. As a nation we will never see this again!!!

I was born and lived in the middle of this region. I worked in machine shops and foundries that produced parts for all of these cars.

This brings back memories of my parents' Oldsmobile with the "Body by Fisher" plate on the door sill.

Those tool and die makers were legend in this country at that time. They could design tools and machinery for any application. They were innovators and problem solvers of the first order.

After watching this, I have much greater appreciation for what Preston Tucker must have gone through to make his car bodies starting from scratch. Keith L.

My father had a 65 Cadillac Sedan de Ville and always remember seeing that Body By Fisher as we stepped into that car I restore old refrigerators and coke machines and I get so impressed by craftmanship of years gone by

And that, ladies and gentlemen, are why a sizeable number of these classic Fifties and Sixties automobiles are still on the road today.

Exactly....I remember the one on the door of our 63 Impala wagon the 63 Nova and on the Cadillac

My dad worked for fisher body in lansing mi for Olds along with 6 uncles 1 grandfather and 1 aunt and mother in law.  Long live the wonderful GM cars of the past!

I met a girl once whose name was Fisher.  What a piece of work she was!  Mind by Mattel,  makeup by Sherwin Williams and body by Fisher!

These men of a bygone era enjoyed their craft and took pride in producing a good product. Good video.

IAM 73 now and I did all this kind of work. The only thing I didn't do was work in the stamping plaint and on the assembly line. It was great to see something made from nothing to a beautiful car. My hands where like a surgeon 😷.

I had a few uncles who worked for Fisher Body. It was all about craftsmanship, in those days. You never hear about that anymore. Car/truck commercials, today, give you no clue about what went into making what you are seeing. Fantastic video.

That's why they say, "They don't build them like they used to anymore" what a true statement. Beautiful

Thanks so much for posting this great footage. I'm restoring a 57 Chevy and it's great to see how much work went into these classics. Makes you appreciate the cars from the inside out.

I have always liked cars the cool vintage cars 50s 60 70s also build plastic model cars and also autobody. very good film to see how cars are put together. when I was younger my grandfather had a 57 chevy convertible and my dad had a 57 ford ranch wagon 2dr