The North Tarrytown Assembly was an automobile factory in North Tarrytown, New York , United States, now known as Sleepy Hollow, situated on the Hudson River . The 90-acre (36 ha) plant was in operation from 1896 to 1996. Originally opened by the Stanley Steam Car Company , the plant was acquired by Maxwell-Briscoe in 1903 from the Ingersoll-Rand Drill Company. In 1913 Maxwell-Briscoe was renamed Maxwell Automobile Company . Separate portions of the complex were acquired by Chevrolet in 1914 and 1915. At this time Chevrolet was an independent company and not yet part of General Motors. In 1918 Chevrolet was integrated into General Motors.
12-621: A range of General Motors products were assembled in Tarrytown over the years; most were Chevrolet products, starting with the Chevrolet Series 490 . Tarrytown also produced the 50 millionth Chevrolet, a special gold-colored 1963 Impala SS with the 409 cubic-inch V8. Its last vehicles produced were GM's second generation minivans. These were the Chevrolet Lumina APV , Pontiac TranSport , and Oldsmobile Silhouette , but sluggish sales spelled
24-422: A cab chassis or half truck , is a type of vehicle construction, often found in medium duty truck commercial vehicles . Instead of supplying the customer with a factory pre-assembled flatbed , cargo container, or other equipment, the customer is given the vehicle with just chassis rails and a cab . This allows the customer to add any desired aftermarket equipment, such as fire apparatus , ambulance , or
36-399: A pickup to compete with the new Ford Model TT . The answer was two models, the first 1918 Chevrolet Series 490 Light Delivery chassis cowl rated at half a ton and based on the passenger car. The second, not based on the 490, was a one-ton 1918 Chevrolet Model T (oddly enough) "Ton Truck" shared with GMC . It had a payload capacity rating of 2,000 lbs and sold for $ 1245 retail. Much like
48-548: A recreational vehicle conversion package, which can be customized for the specific needs of the customer. Cutaway van chassis are similar vehicles, but have specific components at the rear whereas chassis cabs usually do not have additional components. Vehicles of this type are produced by Ford , Chevrolet / GMC , and Ram Trucks . A number of 1950s cars were supplied as chassis cabs for coachbuilders to convert into hearses, ambulances, shooting brakes. Austin Motors produced
60-451: The chassis cab of today, they gave consumers a cheap, flexible platform to build on. Its steering wheel and gear shift lever, along with the instrument panel and gauge cluster, were also lifted from the passenger car. A chassis cowl included the chassis with engine, transmission and the front sheet metal which comprised the hood, front fenders, headlights and grille. Klamath County Museum Chassis cab A chassis cab , also called
72-579: The Chevrolet 490 was sold for $ 490 ($ 14,758 in 2023 dollars ). It was an immediate success and established the brand as a big player. The name would not denote the price for long (in 1921, the average price was $ 820 ), but it would stay low enough to take a chunk out of the Model T market. The Model T started at $ 495 at the time. Chevrolet was soon so profitable that Chevrolet owner Billy Durant began buying shares of GM stock with his Chevrolet stock, enough that he
84-465: The end for GM's Tarrytown operations with its 2100 employees. It was closed at the end of June 1996 when production of minivans was moved to Doraville Assembly in Georgia . Metro-North Railroad 's Hudson Line runs through the property, and some of the siding tracks that used to serve the factory have been taken over by Metro-North as overflow storage tracks for maintenance of way equipment. The plant
96-467: The pollution reports were exaggerated, and that he and other residents would swim by a beach nearby, however Dominick Pirone, an ecologist and former director of the Hudson River Fishermen's Association (now Riverkeeper ) was quoted as saying: "You can tell what color cars they are painting on a given day by what color the river is." The site today is now being developed, with the parcel west of
108-562: The railroad becoming a mainly-residential Toll Brothers development named "Edge-on-Hudson" and the east parcel retained by the Village of Sleepy Hollow for a new Department of Public Works garage and other facilities for the public. Some of the models produced at the plant included: 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,
120-594: Was a firm believer in the OHV engine, as that had been the reason for the success of his earlier automobile company, Buick , which he had taken over in 1904, and used to found GM in 1908. He lost control of GM in 1910 due to stockholder and banker issues, and Buick still had the patent for the OHV engine, but GM did not dare to sue Durant. Durant would use Chevrolet to regain control of GM in 1917, which he merged with Chevrolet that year. The same year Chevrolet merged with GM, Durant wanted
132-499: Was a noted polluter of the Hudson River. The plant used about 1 million gallons of water per day, which was returned to the river as waste. The plant's industrial waste (primarily lead chromate and other painting, cleaning, and soldering chemicals) would be emptied directly into the river. Domestic waste would be processed through the village's sewage treatment plant. Around 1971, the village's Sewer and Water Superintendent assured that
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#1732858377160144-533: Was able to take control of GM and merge Chevrolet with it. Electric horns were standard. And by 1921, standard equipment included a speedometer, and ammeter, dome lights (closed-body cars only), and headlight dimmers. All 490s were only offered with the Overhead Valve 171-cubic-inch (2.8 L) four cylinder , producing 24 hp (18 kW). This would be Chevrolet's main engine until the "Stovebolt" straight six replaced it for 1929. Chevrolet owner Billy Durant
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