Patricia A. Elbert, Dayton, Ind. Source: GMnext 'In 1967, I was working for a vending machine company, and we were working on the machines at the Ford Rouge plant. I met one of the guys who beat up (UAW leader) Walter Reuther at the 'Battle of the Overpass.' People told me he could make or break you. He liked me and kept telling me 'I can make you a foreman right now at the plant.' I finally told him, 'Look, if I'm going to work for a car company, it's going to be the biggest one in the world.' I never regretted that. I got this $300,000 house from that company. My father earned a great living from that company and he had a grade school education.' Pete Sapienza, retired production worker who spent more than three decades at GM (father of Tony Sapienza) 'Saturn was very cagey about how they launched the brand. There was no such thing as a sneak peek at models. When they arrived at the dealership in Reno, the cars were covered in drapes. That just got me more and more excited. I stepped over the fence at night to try to see what they looked like.' Saturn owner Laura Mildon Xideris, former Reno, Nev., resident and former Saturn car saleswoman 'At age 19, my application for employment was accepted at the B.O.P (Buick-Oldsmobile-Pontiac) Assembly Plant in Doraville, Ga. As a female, there are several things I remember: No lady was allowed in the plant assembly area without a male escort. No women, of course, worked on the line, nor supervised. No pants were worn by women. Mostly high heels. Cafeterias were separated hourly vs. salary. We worked from 8 a.m. until precisely 4:42 p.m.; with 42 minutes for lunch. Everyone drove a GM car or truck. Betty W. Bell, retired from the GM Assembly Plant, Doraville, Ga. Source: GMnext 'Pontiac Motor was a huge fascinating place in the mid 1960s. I was hired in April 1966. GTOs, the large Grand Prix, the Straight 6 with the Brain Box, and 265 & 289 V8s were made then. I was placed as an inspector on the 'floor job hourly.' I was moved around as utility inspector, giving breaks to line workers who had the same job all day. Strange as it may seem, I wore a white shirt and tie to work every day, which was not your normal dress for working on the line. Daily, I created havoc because I wore this white shirt and tie. Every time I went to go the restroom close by, there would be gambling going on up there and when I walked in they scattered.' Richard A. Axford Sr., retired, White Lake Source: GMnext