Pontiac's Coach Builders

Pontiac was the world's capital of coach manufacturing, and United Automobile Workers Local 594 was the largest truck and coach union local in the world. General Motors began building coaches in Pontiac as early as 1928, and Local 594 was formed in 1938 to represent the working rights of its members. Over many years, these workers built cutting-edge GM coaches that carried passengers in comfort throughout America, including Freedom Riders who rode interstate buses to the segregated South in the 1960s. Local 594 members benefitted from union activism and the establishment of their own credit union. From 1977 to 1987, members built RTS, or Rapid Transit Series, buses, the last coaches built in Pontiac. Futurliner designer Harley Earl was known to say, "When in doubt, chrome it out."

Pontiac, Michigan · United States