Lynch Road, Detroit: Plymouth-DeSoto Factory
Bill Watson wrote that Lynch Road was opened for DeSoto production in 1928 or very early 1929; in 1933, DeSoto moved to Jefferson Avenue, and the plant was largely devoted to Plymouth, though in 1935 (and possibly other years) both Plymouth and DeSoto were manufactured at Lynch Road.
The first Dodges made at the plant after that time were the Coronet and Monaco in 1964, followed by the Charger in 1965. Photos are from the Plymouth Bulletin (except the color photo above, from Chrysler.)
The Lynch Road was notable for its wartime accomplishments. It made military trucks, but of more long-lasting fame was the construction of diffusers used to refine uranium for atomic bombs, starting with the very first. Chrysler engineers actually made it possible to produce an atomic bomb without extreme cost; scientists believed that only pure nickel could resist highly caustic uranium hexafluoride gas, but Chrysler engineers suggested that simply electroplating steel drums with nickel would work just as well.
Over the scientific experts’ objections an experiment was carried out, and it turned out that nickel-plated steel did work — without this, building the first bomb would have required every available source of nickel for two years. The diffusers themselves were built and electroplated in clean rooms at Lynch Road.
In a more pedestrian but very useful footnote to history, a manager discovered early in World War II that the Lynch Road plant had been story 155 mm recoil mechanisms for big guns used in World War I. Since the war had ended, workers had regularly tested the machinery and made sure it was weather protected. The big guns were shipped to England for their coastal defense. Reportedly this discovery played a role in K.T. Keller’s idea to create a permanent tank arsenal near Detroit, which would produce tanks during wars and civilian transport during peacetime.
| Plymouth | 1929-1964 |  |
| DeSoto | 1929-1933 | |
| Fargo Truck | 1929-1930 | |
| Plymouth | 1979-1980 | |
| Belvedere | 1964-1970 | |
| Belvedere | 1972-1978 | |
| Monaco/Coronet | 1964-1978 | |
| Charger | 1965-1966 | |
| St. Regis | 1978-1980 | |
| Chrysler | 1978-1980 | |
| At right: Lynch Road, 1937 | ||
