Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 449 All demolished

The machinery factory's motorcade was divided into several shifts. The others were all truck shifts, but the last one was a car shift specifically for serving government offices.

In addition, there is a car repair shop that serves the motorcade.

While most companies are still figuring out how to buy an extra used car, they've even got their own dedicated auto repair team.

This demonstrates just how powerful the machinery factory is.

If there aren't enough vehicles, will the higher authorities approve the establishment of an auto repair class?

what?
Can the factory make its own decisions without the approval of its superiors?

Hehe, that applies to service departments like canteens and workers' clubs. Any organization that needs industrial raw material supplies cannot be established without approval from higher authorities.

If your superiors don't agree, where are you going to buy car parts?
How can Chen Fan build a new car without enough auto parts?
Yes, Chen Fan wants to make cars by hand.

When he saw the four cars in the corner of the auto repair shop, his heart sank.

The tires were flat, the body was broken, and the windows were gray and grimy, giving off a sense of desolation.

Refurbish them?
I might as well build another one!

He felt utterly disheartened, while Director Yang and the other two wore smug expressions.

Deputy Factory Director Li pointed to the four vehicles and said, "Look, these are the vehicles your father got from his former workplace, Jiangnan Machinery Factory. Back then, in the entire Yunhu area, which unit had four vehicles?! Only our machinery factory did!"

Factory Director Yang put his hands on his hips and said, "Of course, they look a bit old now and can't even be started, but they've been covered with tarpaulins all these years, so not much dust has gotten in. The experienced mechanics in the auto repair shop have checked them and said that as long as we can buy the right parts, they can be fixed."

Behind them, a 50-year-old mechanic covered in oil grinned, revealing a set of stained yellow teeth. "Just one sentence: as long as we can get a suitable engine, even if we have nothing else, our factory can put together a car! Nothing else, we can even make the axles, bearings, and universal joints ourselves!"

Chen Fan wiped away a cold sweat, turned around and chuckled at his master, "Well, our factory is pretty impressive!"

This universal joint may be unfamiliar to many people. It is small in size, but it is an essential component of automobiles.

Lu Guanqiu, who was praised by the vice president as the number one person in private enterprises, led the Wanxiang Group, whose name comes from the universal joint.

It was because he registered his company under the name of Zhejiang Import and Export Corporation that he secured an order at the Canton Fair. This small collective enterprise, which originally produced plowshares, rakes, bearings, and chains, was able to obtain a steady stream of overseas orders through the universal joint product, which led to the Wanxiang Group becoming the absolute leader in the national auto parts industry.

However, that's a long way off. Right now, Chen Fan is thinking about how to develop his new car.

At this moment, Factory Director Yang stepped forward and said softly with a smile, "Xiao Fan, which car do you like? I'll have the auto repair team fix it for you."

Chen Fan coughed lightly, rubbed his hands together, and said with a smile, "Uncle Yang, I can choose any of these cars, right?"

Factory Director Yang immediately nodded, "Of course, this is a resolution of the factory office meeting. As long as you agree to be our factory's health consultant, we will provide you with a dedicated car."

He pointed to the four vehicles and said, "If the fleet of cars wasn't so short-handed, we wouldn't be giving you this junk."

Chen Fan grinned and laughed, "It's not broken, it's actually quite good."

Without these junk tools, he wouldn't have been able to build the car.

He glanced back, then turned back and smiled, "Okay, I'll study this here first. You're all busy with your official duties, so go ahead and take care of yours. I can handle things here myself."

Factory Director Yang glanced at him, pondered for two seconds, then looked at the auto repair foreman and the master mechanic next to him, "You guys take a little effort. Anyway, there are only a few cars. Let him choose whichever one he wants. If he needs any spare parts, just tell us directly. Or if he needs cooperation from other workshops in the factory, he can go directly to them."

He then waved to Chen Fan and took a few steps to the side, clearly wanting to whisper something.

Chen Fan quickly went over and asked, "What's wrong?"

Factory Director Yang blinked at him. "Ha, you've even picked up the northern accent? And you still dare to say you're not Old Chen's son?"
He coughed lightly, leaned closer and whispered, "Xiao Fan, look, we talked yesterday about helping to give the factory some suggestions and see what the next step should be, right?"

Chen Fan winked at him, his meaning clear: What, don't the five basic principles of factory management count?
Factory Director Yang chuckled and said, "Your suggestion was very good, but as you saw today, the machinery factory has too many product types. We're practically just doing whatever the higher-ups ask us to do."

As he spoke, he started counting on his fingers, “From guns and cannons in the early years to light vehicle parts later, these were all made for war preparation. Later, they were turned to civilian use and were used for bicycles and sewing machines.”

Nowadays, it mainly produces various mechanical parts, especially vehicle and ship parts, but also some small agricultural machinery, tractors, and small machine tools.

We just produce whatever our superiors tell us to produce. Although we have some surplus capacity, we don't know where to use it.

He paused for a moment, then sighed softly, "In the year or so since I returned to work, I've been busy organizing the factory affairs and haven't had time to think about this. It wasn't until this time, when the police came to investigate your situation, that I thought of your father."

Back then, when he often talked to me about the factory's development, he repeatedly said one thing: a machine factory must have its own flagship product; otherwise, it will forever remain a "jack-of-all-trades" for its superiors, or a "reserve force" that is only used when needed.

Upon hearing this, Chen Fan immediately thought of Wuling. Back then, Liuzhou Machinery Factory could produce almost anything that the higher-ups needed, and their transformation was quite smooth.

They started by manufacturing airplanes, then engines, and also chainsaws, Honghe brand tractors, Guangxi brand cars, Liujiang brand cars, and 127 horsepower boat handling machines.

The small yacht Chen Fan has installed this boat handling machine, and it works quite well.

Later, Liuzhou Machinery Plant was further divided into a power machinery plant, a machine tool plant, a magneto plant, and an auto parts plant...

The variety of products is even greater than that of Yunhu Machinery Factory.

However, Wuling didn't do as much of a mixed bag as Yunhu Machinery Factory.

Then he remembered the state-owned enterprise where he had interned after graduating from university.

Unlike Yunhu Machinery Factory, that numbered factory was positioned as a company specializing in the production of shortwave radios from the very beginning. However, the amount of work assigned by the superiors was insufficient, so they tried to produce radios and even televisions themselves. In the new century, in order to get rid of losses, they even went so far as to manufacture mobile phones.

It's a complicated story.

Okay, these all fall under the category of communications, so they haven't strayed from the main theme.

However, this situation is indeed quite common in major companies these days.

On the contrary, people like Director Yang and Chen's father, who realize that a factory needs to have a flagship product, are extremely rare.

Chen Fan looked at him, his expression somewhat hesitant, "You're not going to ask me to order this flagship product, are you?"

Upon hearing this, Director Yang couldn't help but chuckle. "Such a big matter is not something I can simply do based on what you say."

He smiled at Chen Fan and said, "Just think of yourself as one of the people I'm researching in the early stages."

Hearing this, Chen Fan breathed a sigh of relief, "That's more like it. I thought..."

He stopped halfway through his sentence, chuckled, and said, "This is such a big matter, I need to think about it carefully, and I'll give you an answer in a few days."

Factory Director Yang smiled and nodded, "Alright, there's no rush. Take your time to think it over, and then tell me when you've made up your mind."

This kid seems even smarter than his father. At least, if his father were sent to Lujiawan, he might not have achieved what he has now. So he was quite interested in hearing Chen Fan's thoughts. Just as he was about to leave, he heard Chen Fan say, "Uncle Yang, there's something I'd like to confirm."

Factory Director Yang looked at him and said, "Go on."

Chen Fan lowered his voice and asked, "Does this mean that whatever you want to do, your superiors will agree to it?"

To reiterate, factories these days are subject to orders from higher management; you can't just decide to build cars and expect to succeed...

Okay, it seems like it might actually work.

Because it wasn't until 89 that my country issued the "Interim Provisions on the Management of the National Catalogue of Automobile, Civilian Modified Vehicle and Motorcycle Manufacturers and Products".

What's the use of this thing?
Only cars manufactured by factories and enterprises listed in this catalog will be subject to product inspection and license plate issuance by the public security authorities.

All other companies are not qualified to produce cars that are legal to be driven on public roads!
Why could Geely only make electric cars for the elderly when it first started out? It's because they weren't listed in this catalog, so they weren't issued license plates.

So at this point in time, as long as you have the ability, you can build cars however you want, and whatever kind of car you want.

The key is whether your superiors will approve the raw materials!
Without raw materials, you can't even build a bicycle; but with raw materials, you can build a truck without any problem.

This is why Chen Fan asked Director Yang this question.

What's the point of making your own choice if your superiors disagree?
Upon hearing his words, Director Yang first nodded in satisfaction, then smiled and said, "You don't need to worry about this problem. The key is to help the factory come up with a good solution."

Chen Fan raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Okay."

……

After the three leaders left, Chen Fan immediately turned around and walked towards the cars.

As he left, he was still rolling up his sleeves, saying, "Master Zhou, could you please help me out?"

The experienced mechanic immediately came over, grinning, and asked, "Have you decided which one you want?"

Chen Fan chuckled and drew a circle with his hand. "Excuse me, could you please dismantle these two GAZ trucks for me?"

Master Zhou's eyes widened immediately. "They've all been torn down?"

He turned to look at the two cars, then back at Chen Fan, "Two cars?"

Although the three factory leaders came together and said that Chen Fan could choose whatever he wanted and the factory would be responsible for fixing it, they didn't say that they had to tear it all down.
A row of auto repair workers stood nearby, whispering amongst themselves, clearly very curious.

They had almost no ill will toward this young man, because back then, his father would come here every few days to study the data and performance of car parts.

At that time, he mentored almost everyone there, helping them improve their skills significantly and earn more money.

Unfortunately, the person in question was an engineer in charge of research and development, so they had no chance to repay the favor. Later, when the person got into trouble, they had even less of a chance.

Now that someone's son is coming over, what's wrong with dismantling a few scrapped cars?
So they were just a little curious as to why this kid wanted to dismantle two cars.
At this moment, Master Zhou's eyes flickered slightly, as if he had realized something. "You want to select the best-performing parts and then assemble it?"

Chen Fan smiled and said, "I have that idea."

He paused for a moment, then said in a low voice, "I want to test the metal fatigue strength of this car first. If it has already suffered permanent damage, it is not suitable for use even if the exterior is intact."

Master Zhou's eyes suddenly became somewhat complicated. He hummed twice and sighed, saying, "You look like your mother, but you do things exactly like your father."

He then turned around, looked up, and shouted, "Come here, all of you, and tear those two jeeps apart!"

Everyone responded immediately, rushing over to push Chen Fan aside. Then, some pushed, some pulled, moving the two vehicles to their respective repair spots before starting the work.

Chen Fan circled around, going over to check on each part that was dismantled.

Both of these are imported GAZ-69A civilian models, with a four-door, five-seat configuration and a removable soft top.

Leaving aside the exterior, the interior can be directly compared to the old BJ212, which was quite unrestrained.

(Interior of GAZ-69A)

Looking at this rugged punk style, Chen Fan couldn't help but scratch his head.

How do you use this thing?

He then turned his gaze to the two Volga cars on the other side.

Actually, this car is also called GAZ, its real name is GAZ-21. Volga is the car brand. It was first produced in 56 and was the main car model of the Soviet Union at that time.

(The most distinctive feature of the first-generation Volga was the large five-pointed star on the front bumper.)

Back then, the Soviet Union's automotive industry was still somewhat lacking, and this car was only successfully born with the help of Ford. Therefore, the relationship between the Soviet Union and the Americans was somewhat complicated.

Chen Fan thought that this car was, after all, Old Su's "high-end vehicle," so there should be something of value inside.

Then I went closer to take a look, and wow, it's not bad.

Although the design is too old-fashioned, the leather interior is a big winner, and it also has an electronic start, which is quite rare.

The GAZ-69 still needs to be cranked by hand.

Hmm, it seems like we can make use of that.

Chen Fan looked back and saw that the car was still being dismantled. He found a place to sit down and asked Master Zhou for some blueprints and pencils. He then sat down at the table and started writing and drawing.

The GAZ-69 was originally designed for military use. Although the 69A is the civilian version, the main structure remains unchanged. The biggest feature of this vehicle is its ease of disassembly, emphasizing the principle of "replacing only what is broken."

So Chen Fan had just drawn a sketch when the two cars were already disassembled into small parts.

Master Zhou came over and looked at Chen Fan's painting, then asked softly, "Only the engine is left, are you still going to take it apart?"

Chen Fan turned his head and glanced at it. "So fast?"

Master Zhou grinned twice, "This is considered slow. The main reason is that the factory's vehicle team mainly uses sedans. They haven't dismantled any jeeps in the past two years. In the past, it would have taken no more than 5 minutes to dismantle one like this!"

Chen Fan put down his pen, walked over, and looked at the engine. "Take this apart too."

He paused for a moment, then leaned closer to Master Zhou, looking embarrassed, and whispered, "Could you also take apart that Volga?"

Master Zhou smacked his lips, glanced at him, and then waved his hand and shouted, "Take apart those two too."

(End of this chapter)