When we completed the static shots, it was getting dark-fast. With permission from the police, we did some road shots just outside the plant, while standing in the back of a pickup truck doing about 40 mph. The big photo on page 3 of this magazine is a result of that effort. (The cover and centerspread road shots were done the next day in better light.)
Being at a shutdown assembly plant at nightfall can be awe-inspiring. Hopefully, GM or some other business will able to make use of the plant for a future product, and the town of Moraine will benefit from the jobs it brings.
For us holdouts, there may still be a glimmer of hope regarding Pontiac. I had a nagging thought in the back of my mind since the whole mess went down, but I wouldn't let it come up front. Then someone else mentioned it.
I had a recent phone conversation with Benjamin Harrison, who, among other positions, was in charge of the Engineering Department Special Projects for Pontiac under John DeLorean. He brought up the point that GM sold off other Divisions, but refused to sell Pontiac, even when there were interested buyers. Does this indicate there's a chance, albeit slim, that Pontiac will return in some form in the future?
I know it sounds farfetched, but stranger things have happened. How many Camaro fans thought that they would ever see a new one after the 2002 build-out?
Though abandoned places can preserve history, here's to hoping that some of GM's shuttered assembly plants may also provide foundations for viable future endeavors.