One Piece at a Time (song)

One Piece at a Time is a country song by Johnny Cash, it was his last #1 hit.

The song is a first-person account of a Kentucky native who relocates to Detroit and works on the General Motors assembly line, manufacturing Cadillacs. Recognizing he would never be able to afford one, he and a fellow co-worker decided to build their own, from parts smuggled out of the factory over time (a practice known as "salami slicing").

However, they fail to take into account model changes over the years; by the time they attempt to assemble the car they discover problems (the engine is a 1973 model but the transmission is a 1953 model, they only had three headlights – two on the left and one on the right – and only one tail fin). Despite the problems, they manage to make the parts fit into a fully-functioning automobile. The singer's wife is skeptical, the townspeople laugh at the car – but the local courthouse isn't as thrilled: it requires the entire staff to type up the paperwork resulting in a 60-pound vehicle title.