GM relocating build-your-own engine program to Bowling Green
Mon, 16 Sep 2013
Most of us would be happy to simply buy a high-performance vehicle like a Chevrolet Corvette and let the experts do the assembly. But for nearly a decade now, General Motors has offered customers the opportunity to assemble their own engines.
The build-your-own engine program has allowed customers to come by the GM Performance Build Center in Wixom, Michigan, where it puts together its high-performance powerplants, and help the technicians put their own together. The experience adds about $5,800 to the cost of the car, but for some buyers, makes their new ride that much more theirs. But the program is shutting down, at least temporarily.
That's because GM is closing its Performance Build Center. While the V8 engines once found in vehicles like the Chevy Corvette, Cadillac XLR and certain top-spec Camaro models were once assembled there, that task has since decentralized to other facilities. So after producing some 40,000 engines, the Performance Build Center will close its doors later this fall.
But there's hope for well-heeled do-it-yourselfers. According to Automotive News, GM is restructuring the build-your-own engine program and moving it to the Corvette assembly plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky. No word on when the program will go back online, but in the report, GM spokesman Bob Wheeler says the experience will be "enhanced" once it does.
By Noah Joseph