Frederick R. Caffrey

General Motors Assembly Research

Frederick Caffrey was born in 1932 in New York and attended the University of Michigan on a football scholarship where he graduated with an Electrical Engineering degree.   Frederick started working at General Motors in Detroit in 1963.  At that time he met Ester, who was also an employee for General Motors. They married in New York in 1964 and Frederick was transferred to Norwood, Ohio immediately.   In 1965, Frederick was transferred to Atlanta as the GM General Superintendent and then to Flint, Michigan for General Motors Assembly Research for the F-car Pilot program.  His division received three of the initial F-car Pilot Prototype builds from Norwood and was in charge of disseminating all the data gleaned from the individual studies of the Pilot Prototype builds.  This included the time, fit, and assembly studies conducted by the Pilot Program Coordinator, Jim Seim.   His name graces the Pilot book on those three builds.

Ester described her husband as a “Big Bear” who was admired, but feared by his employees.   She said, “They would joke about who would draw straws if someone had to ask Frederick a question”.  With his degree in engineering and his rapid ascent to the top, Frederick Caffrey always knew the answers to everyone’s questions however.   Ester and Frederick had two sons and he resided the rest of his life in Grand Blanc, Michigan until his death in 2001.  He was loved by many and played an important role in the development of the car that we now know as the “Camaro”.  He is buried in Grand Blanc at Evergreen Cemetery and survived by his adoring wife, Ester….who was interviewed on May 12, 2015.

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