On Detroit’s west side, there’s a stately edifice that looks more like a university hall than an auto plant. This Motor City landmark is known as PROC, the Plymouth Road Office Complex.
PROC was originally built in 1927 as the headquarters for Detroit-based Kelvinator, a pioneer in home refrigerators. The complex included the office building facing Plymouth Road (above) and factory buildings that stretched out behind it for many blocks to the north, covering a total of 1.5 million square feet.
When Kelvinator merged with Kenosha-based automaker Nash in 1937, forming Nash-Kelvinator, this complex became the new company’s home office. During WWII the plant was used to assemble Sikorsky R-6 helicopters, with the land out back billed as “the world’s smallest airport.”
Here’s the Plymouth Road plant when it was new, looking north. Note the office building at the front, the power house at the rear, and the residential development sprouting up on the east. At the time, this was Detroit’s western outskirt. The Detroit Terminal Railroad runs along the east side of the plant with a siding to the west.
When Nash and Hudson merged in 1954 to create American Motors, the facility on Plymouth Road became the company’s world headquarters, and remained so until 1975 when AMC moved into a new high-rise a few miles away in Southfield. The old building became the main engineering facility for AMC and its Jeep subsidiary until 1987, when the automaker was acquired by Chrysler.
Chuck Mashigan, director of Advanced Styling, American Motors, with Tarpon concept
AMX fullsize clay proposal, 1966
Chrysler used PROC as its center for Dodge truck and Jeep development, which generated a second set of initials for the facility: JTE, for Jeep and Truck Engineering. Vehicles developed here include the original Cherokee and Durango. The complex remained in regular use until June of 2009, when its operations and over 1,500 workers were moved to the sprawling and much newer Chrysler Technology Center in Auburn Hills.
At that point PROC was deeded over to Old CarCo LLC, the “old bad Chrysler” created in the bankruptcy to separate the automaker from all its obsolete and undesirable assets. The facility’s future in the near term, apparently, is as multi-tenant office, warehousing, and light manufacturing. In this part of the world, that usually means a slow, ugly death by deferred maintenance, steady deterioration, and eventual abandonment.
But in the meantime, you can see this beautiful building at 14250 Plymouth Road in Detroit, just west of Grand River between Schaefer and Greenfield. With its tall false bell tower visible throughout the neighborhood, it’s easy to find.
The elegant main entrance as it looked in September of 2010.
Such a cool building with great and varied history. Let’s hope that it doesn’t fall prey to the decay that has overwhelmed other automotive landmarks in Detroit.
I really don’t see how it can escape the fate described in the story. Detroit has many times the properties of this type it can ever hope to use. While this is an architecturally interesting structure, it’s not a very modern or useful one, and it’s not in a good area.
Detroit has a unique and crushing set of urban problems. First, scale. The cities of Baltimore, Manhattan, Boston, and San Francisco will all fit at once inside its city limits. And the troubles aren’t recent. They go back to the 1930s and in some ways have always existed.
If I were a billionaire and in a position to donate to the city of Detroit, you know what I would provide? A 200-man professional demolition company and all the equipment and funding they can use.
Was there many times for meeting while I was a Chrysler employee. A huge and maze like complex. If you got lost there you would be gone for days.
I hope the old gal fares better than the Packard Plant.
Many great engineering feats were accomplished at this facility. It was also the place that Dodge’s return to Nascar through the truck series was developed. That was a fun time to be involved in Nascar.
Thanks for your memories, guys. Indeed, a lot of great people worked there.
these pics bring back many fond memories for me! My grandfather Charles “Chuck” Mashigan was Director of Advanced Styling at AMC from 1962 until AMC aquired Jeep in the early ’70s at which time he became Director of Jeep Styling until he retired in 1982. That picture of the clay AMX was taken inside his studio there. It is sad that this place has fallen into neglect.
Justin, thanks for visiting. In honor of your grandfather, a photo has been added above featuring him and another of his creations, the Tarpon. mcg
Thank you very much! He would be pleased to see that his work is finally receiving some recognition! He was an amazingly talented man and his story in the world of automotive design is truly one of starting at the bottom and winding up at the top. Some day given enough time I would really like to write a book on his story.
I met the engineer that helped develop/create the HEMI! He was an old guy back in the 80’s
My father, Fred Garner was the chief metalurgical Engineer at AMC in the 1950’s to 1975. He also worked in the same building for Kelvinator. It was a great reminder of him. He lived 96 years and died in 2007. I will always have a soft for Ramblers.
Eileen Garner-Asteriou
Thanks so much for writing to tell us about your father. These stories mean a lot to us. mcg
I worked there for 2 years in the mid 1980s & it was a maze. My grandpa, 2 aunts, stepdad & many friends also worked there. It was an amazing place!
The Jeep/Truck Engineering Complex was a great place to work at in the late 1990’s to mid-2000’s. Lot’s of teamwork and energy that made the great Jeeps of the time possible !
I wish someone could bring it back to life
Used to walk past that place on my way to George Ford Junior High School.
The building and grounds were immaculate (1970-71).
I’ve always wanted to know more about what happened at PROC-JTE, as my two favorite Chrysler products came out of there, the Viper and Jeeps. Very sad to see it abandoned.
Does anyone know how long the Viper “Skunk Works” operated out of PROC ? Also, were the department(s) that developed the JTEC located there as well ?
I was part of the Tooling Team from Chrysler Highland Park for the Viper Program…Bob Lutz only allowed $50.0 Mill for all the tooling…It was a challenge but suppliers stepped up and contributed immensely to make it happen… Bob’s Logic was it was it would be great exposure for all the suppliers who furnished the parts to make Viper a Go..
I worked in this building from 1973 until we moved to the American Center building in Southfield. It was a beautiful building full of life. Remember the Castaways Bar across the street. I loved working for AMC and unfortunately did not enjoy working for Chrysler (too boring, not enough to do) so I took the buyout in the late 1980’s. I would love to talk to some old employees,
I worked for Chrysler and Your right… To many hands spoiled the soup… I volunteered to go to the Plymouth Road Complex in 1992 since nobody in our Chrysler organization wanted to go..AMC was more close nit and all the people were great to work with..It was Fun to go to Work Again at AMC..
I worked for Chrysler Corporation at Highland Park at the time and was asked to take a team of Financial Specialist, Senior Value Engineers and Contract Engineers to Integrate the Chrysler System with the AMC system for Engineering Changes, Tool Orders and other Purchasing systems.. No one wanted to go from HP . I volunteered in 1992 since others lived out in Oakland County and I lived in Grosse Pointe Farms.. They were some of the best of times in my 30 plus years at Chrysler and I remember them all….