Having grown up in Detroit, I know that some of the Ford and Chrysler plants allowed walk-alongs. The Ford Wixom plant, where my aunt worked, would let you know the date that your Lincoln was being built, so you could walk it down the line. My dad knew when his car was going to be delivered before the dealer did.
The problem that comes to my mind, and I'm certain that I will be corrected if I'm wrong, is that engines had to be mated with a VIN matched body, so unless it was a COPO, how would Tonawanda know the correct motor to ship if it wasn't an RPO?
Adding "options" like a stereo radio, or rear defogger, or the power this or that just meant that some other car would get stiffed of that equipment. Write it off as "factory error", or Union brotherhood . Happened all of the time, with the wrong color interior or center console missing, etc.
How would the engine assembly phase be talked into building a motor that the computers would have kicked out of the system for not being a compatable RPO, such as a non-SS 454?
