Motor Cities Tinkerers to Titans in the Auto Age Tour
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Motor Cities Tinkerers to Titans in the Auto Age Tour
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Motor Cities Tinkerers to Titans in the Auto Age Tour

2 h
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About this activity
Itinerary
This is a typical itinerary for this product

Stop At: Ford Plant, 91 Manchester Avenue at Woodward Avenue, Highland Park, MI

The Antique Touring Company garage is in Milwaukee Junction, a small industrial district of Detroit that became the incubator of the automobile industry in the first decade of the 20th Century. Specifically, we are in the Ford Piquette Avenue Plant, now a museum dedicated to preserving the first Factory built by the Ford Motor Company, in 1904. In those days Henry Ford was not the only Tinkerer on the block. Meet us at 461 Piquette Avenue and we will take you around the neighborhood to see where it all began, and in many cases where it also ended, for automobile companies such as Studebaker, Ford, EMF, Regal, Nash, Detroit Electric, Brush and Packard, as well for suppliers such as Murray, Briggs and Fisher. The neighborhood looks a little rough these days, but Milwaukee Junction is must-not-miss sacred ground of American automobile heritage.

A National Historic Landmark, the Highland Park Plant is where the Ford Motor Company built the first fully automated assembly line. The assembly line was a game changer in automobile production, allowing Ford to manufacture cars so efficiently that they could be priced low enough that working class people could afford them. Besides the assembly line, in Highland Park we will also discuss some of Ford's social experimentation, as well as the critical role of the automobile industry in World War I.

Duration: 15 minutes

Stop At: Boston Edison Historic District, Detroit, MI

When the Milwaukee Junction tinkers became titans of the auto industry, many of them, and their white collar colleagues, built homes in the Boston Edison neighborhood of Detroit. On the way back from Highland Park we drive through Boston Edison to see some grand mansions that the automobile titans build in the years before World War I.

Duration: 15 minutes

Stop At: The Ford Piquette Avenue Plant, 461 Piquette St, Detroit, MI 48202-3547

Hear about the start of Ford Motor Company, Henry Ford's third attempt at automobile manufacturing. Also the history of automobile companies in the neighborhood including Studebaker who bought the Piquette Plant from Ford in 1911.

Duration: 10 minutes

Stop At: Packard Automotive Plant, Detroit, MI

Hear the story of why the Packard brothers moved their company from Ohio to Detroit and what made the Packard Plant and Brand special. Plus what ultimately led to the downfall of the company.

Duration: 15 minutes

Stop At: Russell Industrial Center, 1600 Clay St, Detroit, MI 48211-1972

Hear the stories of Murray Body and Anderson Electric Automobile Companies.

Duration: 10 minutes

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Not included
  • Entry/Admission - The Ford Piquette Avenue Plant
Additional
  • Confirmation will be received at time of booking
  • Not wheelchair accessible
  • Service animals allowed
  • Most travelers can participate
  • Children who are both under 8 and under 4 feet 9 inches tall cannot be accommodated by Antique Touring Company due to child seatbelt laws.
  • This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund
  • This tour/activity will have a maximum of 4 travelers
Features
Tourism
90%
Cultural
75%
Original
20%
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