FCA envisions turning small Detroit plant into museum for car collection

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles said it will transform the small former assembly plant in Detroit where the Dodge Viper was hand built until last August into the new home of its sprawling automobile collection, with hopes of one day opening it up to the public.Meanwhile, as the company cleans up the plant, it's auctioning off hundreds of mass-produced and one-of-a-kind pieces of Viper memorabilia to benefit the local United Way.The automaker said Wednesday that the 400,000-square-foot Conner Avenue Assembly plant in northeast Detroit would be reborn as Conner Center, a meeting space -- at least initially for internal use only -- and display showcase for its collection of more than 400 historic and concept automobiles owned by the company. The move allows FCA US to consolidate its collection under one roof.If it later opens to the public, Conner Center would replace the former Walter P. Chrysler Museum -- adjacent to the company's U.S. headquarters in Auburn Hills, Mich. -- which closed in late 2016 to be converted into the new U.S. headquarters for Maserati and Alfa Romeo. Conner Center will be reconfigured to include 22,000 square feet of meeting space and 77,000 square feet of display space, with the remainder to be used for storage, the company said. It is to open for internal use in the second quarter.The Viper went out of production last August in part because it no longer complied with safety regulations for side-curtain airbags -- 25 years after the first production Vipers were released to dealers. Since then, its 51-year-old bespoke assembly plant has sat idle."With a storied history of its own, the Conner Avenue facility is an ideal location to showcase the vehicles that have sustained the Company for more than 92 years," Brandt Rosenbusch, FCA US's manager of historical services, said in a statement. "We are proud of our history and have been working diligently in the daily care and restoration of these important vehicles. This move will allow us to house all of our collection under one roof and have the space to share that history with our employees."The automaker has launched a special online auction to sell off more than 1,800 Viper items, including signed hoods, prints and posters found as it was decommissioning the plant, with the proceeds going to the United Way for Southeastern Michigan. The auction, which goes live Wednesday, runs through April 13 and can be accessed at https://auction.unitedwaysem.org. It also includes a few items from the limited run of the former Plymouth Prowler."We found things like signed sketches, photos and posters, not to mention all of the items that were part of the operations of the plant," Mike Tonietto, the former Conner Avenue Assembly plant manager and auction coordinator, said in the statement. "As more and more items were discovered, the question became what do we do with them. Rather than store them somewhere where they would never be seen or, worse yet, disposed of, we decided to auction them off."The auction list includes eight signed hoods, over 500 pieces of art, signage and posters, as well as Viper tchotchkes, such as apparel, key chains and coffee mugs. One of the items is a limited edition print of a sketch of the Viper GTS bearing the signatures and photos of the three former Chrysler executives responsible for its development: former President Bob Lutz, former head of design Tom Gale and former head of vehicle engineering Francois Castaing.All of the items are being sold "as is," and larger items will have to be picked up in person by the auction winner, FCA US said.

FCA envisions turning small Detroit plant into museum for car collection

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