1908 - The Fisher Body Company

The launch of Fisher Coachworks in 2008 heralds a new era of transportation innovation, just as Body by Fisher did with automobile manufacturing in 1908.

Fisher Body’s rich heritage traces to a horse-drawn carriage shop in Norwalk Ohio run by Laurence Fisher in the late 1800’s. The business successfully grew to include the seven sons of Laurence and Margret Fisher. In 1904, the two eldest sons Fredrick John and Charles Thomas were drawn to Detroit where their Uncle Albert Fisher’s company “Standard Wagon Works” was located. The brothers were inspired to join the C.R. Wilson Company, which was transitioning from carriage body manufacturing to automobile body manufacturing.

With the insights gained from their experience at C.R. Wilson, on July 22, 1908, Fred and Charles founded the Fisher Body Company with financing from Uncle Albert. Albert’s position in the company was soon purchased by Detroit business man Louis Mendelssohn, who became a shareholder and director. Soon after, Charles and Fred convinced their remaining five brothers, Lawrence, William, Edward, Alfred and Howard, to join the venture.

Starting in 1910, Fisher Body became the sole supplier of automotive bodies for Cadillac and also worked with Buick. By 1913, Fisher production achieved 100,000 car bodies annually for customers including Ford, Krit, Chalmers, Cadillac and Studebaker. As their success grew, they expanded into Canada with a plant in Walkersville, Ontario. By 1914 they were the world’s largest manufacturer of automobile bodies and in 1916, changed its name to the Fisher Body Corporation. With production reaching 370,000 units annually that same year, Fisher had added Abbot, Chandler, Chevrolet, Churchfield, Elmore, EMF, Herreshoff, Hudson, Oldsmobile, Packard and Regal to its customer list. Their signature factory in Detroit, Fisher Body 21 was constructed in 1919, and together with their 40+ additional buildings, brought their total manufacturing floor space to 3,700,000 square feet.

In 1919, General Motors president William A. Durant crafted a deal to purchase 60% of the company; and by 1926 GM had fully acquired and integrated the company as its in-house coach building division. The Fisher operating entity operated within General Motors until its dissolution in 1984. GM’s ”Body by Fisher” trademark rights lapsed in 2005.

The Fisher Body heritage of innovative design was born from the need to produce new bodies capable of withstanding the vibration and stresses of the new motorized vehicles. Their superior craftsmanship enabled innovative approaches such as interchangeable wooden body parts that did not require traditional hand-fitting. New precision woodworking tools and assembly processes were developed by Fisher to facilitate the new bodies and pioneer the new closed all-weather bodies.
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