It's the end of an era for the Dodge Grand Caravan, the vehicle that gave birth to the mini-van market in North America.
The final van rolled off the line at Windsor Assembly Plant at 2199 Chrysler Centre Friday morning, the same place it started way back in 1983. Since then more than 14-million variations of the mini-vans have been sold worldwide.
Unifor Local 444 President Dave Cassidy says it's a bitter sweet moment for a truly innovative vehicle.
"You could put a piece of plywood in there. You could pile six kids in there. It's a wonderful vehicle and to finish the Caravan off like that, it's a sad day at Windsor Assembly," he says.
Cassidy says there's no shortage of proud owners for a product that put food on the table for thousands of people in Windsor-Essex.
"Six days a week, sometimes seven days a week they were working full steam ahead. People in the community telling me how many they've owned over the years and it's just a great product," added Cassidy.
Some of the remaining workers from the vans kick-off admit their first impression of the Caravan was way off.
"People were concerned, they're like, 'what is he thinking ... what is he doing?' At that time it was [former CEO] lee Iacocca and he had a vision and he knew that vision was going to take off, but who would have thought for this many years? This is history, "added Cassidy.
Last month FCA Canada announced the 2021 Pacifica will be rebranded as the Chrysler Grand Caravan in the Canadian market.
The vehicle will be built at the Windsor Assembly Plant and goes on sale in the third quarter of this year.