Automotive assembly lines have pretty much been the same ever since Ransom E. Olds filed the patent in 1901 and Henry Ford powered it with conveyor belts twelve years later. Pieces and parts are built up into major component assemblies, which are built into sub-assemblies, and then are put together to create the car. Nothing new there. But whereas today’s assembly line is strongly automated with robots that can do most of the tasks, in 1955 running the assembly line for Plymouth was a more labor-intensive affair. Robots and automated systems were extremely few and were specialized in order to

This film follows the adventures of Job 642, a baby blue and ivory Plymouth Belvedere on it’s way to a family man. Our questionably cheerful guide shows us everything, from crankshaft stamping and rough engine block machining to body and chassis marriage and final testing. Watching those huge stamping dies do their thing is amazing, and seeing a car actually being built by hands instead of a bunch of orange robot arms is a refreshing change of pace, if it isn’t a few steps backward. At least the workforce looks happy…well, maybe not this guy:

Press play below to travel back in time to a Plymouth line in 1955!