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What and Where is this?
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mca
Posted 8/3/2021 21:43 (#9145201 - in reply to #9144818)
Subject: RE: What and Where is this?


Southern Ontario
I remember the car counter billboards, they intrigued me as a kid
I also thought the giant tire was great... still do.
For a farm kid from rural Ontario, driving through or visiting Detroit was always fascinating.

Here is New York Times April 04 1982
The tone here is down as high interest rates at the time were really slowing the economy and all manufacturing.

"DETROIT The billboards along this city's busiest expressways flipped an extra digit on March 26, showing that Detroit had built one million cars so far this year. It was, however, no time for rejoicing. Last year, the million mark was hit exactly one month earlier, and that wasn't exactly a banner production rate either.

The three billboards are a constant reminder of the state of the city's life blood industry. And the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Corporation, better known around the nation for its blimp, is responsible for the reminder.

Goodyear erected the first billboard in 1964, a prosperous time for the auto industry, when 7,616,900 cars were sold and domestic manufactuers held 93.7 percent of the market.

The tire-maker, looking forward to more growth, commissioned two more billboards and, in 1973, a peak year for carmakers, added an extra slot to the boards in anticipation of car production reaching 10 million. It never did.

''Right after we did it production fell off,'' said Fred Stafford, vice president and account supervisor for Gannett Outdoor Advertising, which leases the signs to Goodyear. ''It was like the kiss of death.''

The billboards, of course, don't reflect direct surveillance of every assembly line in town. A production forecast, taking into consideration such variables as plant closings and strikes, is obtained on Fridays from the trade journal Automotive News and the figures are locked into the the billboards' electronic system awaiting the beginning of a new production week at 8 a.m. Monday.

The signs are programmed to work at variable speeds in accordance with the production pace. The billboards can handle a car a second if the need ever arises. But these days, the rate has been one every seven to eight seconds.

Goodyear, which pays approximately $25,000 a month to operate the billboards, has no intention of discontinuing the tallying signs despite the current automotive slump.

''They draw attention to the fact the economy stinks,'' acknowledged Jim Trace, manager of identification for Goodyear. ''but they are still good publicity. When Detroit ceases to be the auto capital of the world we might discontinue them, but we haven't even discussed that.'' Stephanie Droll"

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