Like to see how things work, how they fit together to transport you down the Interstate at 70 mph? The automobile industry is bouncing back these days. There are plenty of places out there that will show you why, that will take you on a tour of how they put cars together in the 21st century.
Consider:
- One of the newest automobile manufacturing plants in the country is Hyundai’s sprawling facility just south of Montgomery, Ala. Start the factory tour in the visitor center auditorium. Don a set of earphones so you can hear your guide. Put on some safety glasses and watch in wonder how people and robots work in concert to render metal and other material into a new Hyundai. Admission is free, but you’re going to need reservations. People tend to wave a lot during the tour, especially the employees.
- BMW’s go-fast driving machines capture the imagination. See how they make ‘em. Start at BMW’s Zentrum museum and gift shop. The museum is free and offers a great retrospective of how the brand became synonymous with sporty automobiles. The tour of the South Carolina factory will run you $7, and takes about an hour. You’ll have to make reservations for this one too.
- BMW manufactures sports cars in South Carolina. Arch-rival Mercedes-Benz builds luxury and sports utility vehicles near Tuscaloosa, Ala. Admission to the museum is gratis. Tuesday and Thursday tours of the factory are $5. They recommend advance reservations.
- Toyota’s largest vehicle manufacturing plant outside of Japan is in the south too, in the Bluegrass region of Kentucky. The Georgetown plant produces a new Toyota every 55 seconds. It’s amazing stuff, a precisely choreographed ballet of robots and human beings doing things “The Toyota Way.” The tour is free, and it’s preceded by a video introduction. All told, the exhibits and tour take between one and a half and 2 hours. You also get a free Toyota – in the form of a nice, nifty door magnet meant to rev up your vroom, vroom genes next time you raid the fridge.
Story by Jerry Chandler
(Image: Damian Morys Foto, BMW)
