Corvette Bowling Green Assembly Plant Tours

Corvette enthusiasts and sports car affectionados, car-freaks like me who love watching robots spot weld, and tourists who have toured everything else, GM's assembly plant tours are a vacation attraction you won't want to miss. Bowling Green, Kentucky is cave and Corvette country, perfect for a family outing.

My wife and I combined visits to Mammoth Cave National Park with the Corvette plant tour and National Corvette Museum.

A guided 1 hour walking tour of the world's only Corvette factory expanded my awareness and appreciation for the 'Vette, now in its 55th year in production.

Twenty-six of those years were at the Bowling Green plant, since assembly was transferred from St. Louis in 1981.

Current models in production are; three forms of the 2008 Chevrolet Corvette - coupe, convertible, and hot Z06, Cadillac XLR roadster, and Caddy XLR-V.

Two new sporty roadsters may be added to the Bowling Green plant production line by 2012, when Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky are rumored to be joining the 'Vette plant's output.

Plant Location and Directions

GM Bowling Green Corvette Assembly Plant
600 Corvette Drive
Bowling Green, Kentucky 42101
270-745-8419

General Motors Bowling Green facility is situated on 250 acres of southern Kentucky, fronting on Interstate 65 at exit 28. The plant is 67 miles north on I-65 from Nashville, and 122 miles south of Louisville.

The entrance to the plant is not marked. Go east off exit 28 and make a right turn at Hardee's. That is Corvette Drive. Another right at the barricade leads to a series of signs directing visitors all the way around the plant to the parking area.

Parking is segregated, those driving GM makes are allowed to park closer to the entrance. Luckily, we were driving a rented Malibu.

Tour Hours and Reservations

GM's Corvette Assembly tour is no longer free.

Admission is $5.00 for the plant tour, the nearby National Corvette Museum is $8.00.

Tours are available Monday - Friday
at 9 am, 11:30 am and 1:15 pm CST.

Tours are closed on most major Holidays and during the first two weeks in July. The plant has historically shut down for a few weeks with each new Corvette upgrade (C4, C5,C6...).

Over 50,000 'Vette enthusiasts take the factory tour each year.

Advance reservations are not required, but are encouraged during heavy tourist traffic season. See link at bottom for reservations if necessary.

Tickets are sold on-site in an office near the tour entrance.

Tour rules include required closed toe shoes, sandals are prohibited.

Cameras, backpacks, purses, fanny packs, or other containers may be not brought inside.

Children with families must be at least seven years old. School groups must be fourth grade or above.The tour is handicapped accessible, there are no stairs or ramps.

Touring the Plant

Each tour begins in a theater where a large screen video of 'Vettes out on the track is running. Tour guides will suggest visitors use the restrooms there before entering the plant.

Visitors wear safety goggles and watch a safety film before the smaller groups assemble. Goggles are supplied.

Groups are cautioned to remain within the green painted walkway to avoid the frequent forklifts and, near the end, Corvettes running about.

Over one million square feet of factory provides a rich texture to experience. Since body panels are composite fiberglass, there is no stamping of steel body parts.

Bowling Green Assembly does not locally manufacture parts for their vehicles, that's why the word "assembly" is featured in the name.

Paint departments, which must be kept squeaky clean and have safety issues, are not part of the tour. A display of paint colors is one of the guide stations along the route.

Tour members see robots weld the hydro-formed steel rails, body panels come together, and watch the chassis and body bond.

Workers on the final assembly line can be seen carefully building each car.

New Corvettes come off the line and tourists watch a first start and drive off at the end of the line. The group pauses by a large booth where every new 'Vette is dyno tested to a simulated 70 mph while a computer runs 800 tests in two minutes.

A large screen hangs down, showing the results and flashing a big green bar when the car passes all tests.

The Water Test Booth throws 12 gallons of water per second under pressure to be sure the product, including rag tops, doesn't leak.

When the tour ends, travelers return the safety glasses, but get a freebie postcard.

Corvette Production

The Bowling Green plant assembles around 35,000 Chevrolet Corvettes each year. That averages out to 150 Corvettes daily.

For 2007 the ratio is 53% coupes, 27% roadsters, and 20% Z06's. The Z06 has some distinct body panels and red brake calipers along with the performance package. Black is the dominant color choice.

The plant was totally redesigned for the 1997 C5 series Corvettes, with an eye to implementing GM's Global Manufacturing System (GMS).

GM Bowling Green receives 1,376 parts from 387 suppliers. The United States and Canada supply 77% of the parts.

Cadillac XLR

Bowling green builds around 4,000 Cadillac XLR roadsters annually. The day we were there 9 XLR's were being assembled.

Bowling Green Workforce

Around 1,200 skilled workers and managers build the 'Vette. UAW Local 2164 has more than 1,000 members.

Demand for the hot new Z06, which has 505 hp, does 0-60 in 3.7 seconds, and is EPA rated 29 mpg highway, keeps the plant busy.

It takes about 36 hours to build a car from start to finish.

These workers can be seen to take great pride in their careful work. Assembling Corvettes, and the Bowling Green environment, make this highly sought after job. The Corvette plant has plenty of transfer applications from other GM plants.

GM's Bowling Green Corvette Assembly Plant has won numerous awards, such as J.D. Power and Associate's "Best in Segment" for two years running, 2001 and 2002, and a J.D. Power Silver Award in 2002.

National Corvette Museum

National Corvette Museum (NCM) is on a separate property located on Corvette Dr., but south of the plant.

To approach the museum from exit 28, turn left at Hardee's rather than right.

Across from Hardee's, proceed south on Corvette Drive approximately 3/8 mile. The Museum is on the right, and can be identified by the yellow 1960's-futuristic rotunda shaped showroom.

The NCM is open seven days a week from 8 AM to 5 PM Central Standard Time.The Corvette Museum is closed on Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas, and New Years Day.

Admission is; $8 adult, $6 Senior Citizens (55+), $4.50 child 6-10, 5 and under free. A large family qualifies for a flat rate of $20.

140,000 visitors trek to the to the museum, operated by a nonprofit Corvette club with 28,000 members, each year.

The museum showcases the Corvette and exhibits communicate its past, present and future. After a movie in the Chevrolet Theater, visitors take a self guided walking tour through the museum. Scenes from America's past unfold, with preserved artifacts depicting the early day's of a very resilient automobile.

To me the most amazing exhibit is the aluminum Z06 chassis. Visitors are invited to lift the chassis by a bar on the front. This looks impossible, as anyone who has done a steel chassis frame-off restoration will attest.

The black-painted chassis is so light any kid can lift it, and most will!

Another point of interest is a restored muscle car store, on Corvette Dr. before the museum.

Around 2% of 'Vette buyers elect option R8C, "Corvette Museum Delivery." R8C is available through any Chevrolet Dealer at a cost of $490. If specified at the time of the order a Shipping Code of "184590" will identify the buyer's Corvette for Museum Delivery.

Visitors will see a couple fresh Corvettes in the museum waiting for their owners.

A separate Corvette Buyers Tour is a $350 3-5 hour VIP tour to glimpse, but not follow, the actual 'Vette purchased through the plant.

Conclusions

The tour is mostly walking with only about 5 stops where the guide grabs a fixed microphone to speak to the group. Our guide was a college intern who had experience in the paint shop but was inexperienced in group leadership and communication.

The forums say experienced guides are saved for VIP's and buyer's touring.

I have heard that a recorded audio tour is in the works.

I urge whomever is in charge of this tour to go take the nearby Toyota Georgetown Kentucky plant tour. Tour guides in training could be sent to Toyota for minimal cost to see how it's done.

Corvette is indeed awesome, the performance to gas mileage ratio incredible, the 'Vette plant tour fascinating and recommended, and Toyota has nothing that can touch Chevy's halo roadster.

But Toyota's tour is the more effective marketing tool.

Online reservation forms are available at the official GM site: Corvette Bowling Green Website