August 20, 2025 • 12 mins
During World War II, the American automobile industry joined the war effort. Companies like General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler went from producing civilian cars to making tanks, trucks, jeeps, aircraft, and other essential war supplies. This transformation involved significant retooling of factories, with many plants dedicating themselves entirely to war production. This the story of how automakers big and small helped win WWII.
Fuel for the Future is presented by State Farm Insurance and driven by America's Automotive Trust. www.americasautomotivetrust.org
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:03):
Just weeks after the US entered WorldWar Two.
On January 1st, 1942,the Office of Production
Management instituted the Lend Lease Act,
which ordered all civilian auto productionto stop by February 22nd.
This ensured raw materialscould be used for critical war production.
When the day came, 520,000 new carsset stockpiled.
(00:27):
Those precious vehicleswould become available
only to essential driversas deemed by the US government.
On today's episode,we look at how American
automotive companies took on WorldWar Two.
This is fuel for the future.
Presented by State Farm Insuranceand driven by America's Automotive Trust.
I'm Michael Mann.
(00:52):
By the end of 1941,
21 major car brands were producingcivilian vehicles in the United States.
Up to that point, Americahad seen the rise and fall of hundreds,
if not thousands of automakers,mostly in the industry's earliest days.
The survivors, including the Big Three'smany brands to independents like
(01:15):
Studebaker, Willys, overland and Checker,represented a massive share of all U.S.
manufacturing.
So when the war came knocking, threateningthe American way of life,
every one of them stepped forwardto fight.
As I mentioned in the introduction,just weeks after the U.S.
entered World War Two,the Lend-Lease act was instituted,
(01:35):
which ordered all civilian autoproduction to stop.
And this left 520,000 new carssitting around in.
Those vehicles were only availableto essential drivers, and these included
doctors, police, civil servants,and those in similar roles.
Once the last civilian car rolled offeach assembly line,
(01:57):
the switch to wartime production occurredalmost instantly.
Factories retooled, workers retrained.
New hires poured in,including largely for the first time,
massive numbers of womenas the men had been shipped off to fight.
It was a remarkable show of patriotism,
and the scale of outputwould prove to be staggering.
(02:19):
Ask who built what?
And the answer is simple. Everyone.
The big companies built big guns, planesand tanks, but the smaller
independents pulled their weightto take American Bantam, for example.
They laid the groundwork for one ofthe most iconic vehicles of the era
before the US joined the war.
(02:39):
The military asked 135 companies to design
a four wheel drive reconnaissance vehicle.
Only two answered the call.
Bantam and Willys Overland Bantamsprototype met almost every requirement
that, because of the small sizeof the company, the Army didn't
believe that they could build75 units per day as they required.
(03:01):
So the blueprints went to Willis,who refined the design
into the Willis EMB, which would laterbecome known as the Jeep.
During the war, Ford
built them two, leaving Bantamwith a different mission altogether.
Manufacturing key componentslike trailers, axles, transfer cases,
and even rocket motors.
But WillysOverland would be best known for the Jeep.
(03:24):
Their war time story runs deeper.
They played a crucial rolein producing something far
less famous, but no less importantthe J.B.
loom.
This was America's
first cruise missile, reverseengineered from the German V-1 buzz bomb.
It was originally designed for a missionthat never happened.
The planned invasion of Japan,
(03:44):
just 1292 of these missilesever left the factory floors.
Many vehicles built by
automakers were designedfor special missions,
such as the marine landing craftand amphibious tractors built by Graham
Page, a name few outside of the collectorcar world remember today.
(04:07):
Before the war, they had dreamsof producing fine cars, having acquired
the dyes and tooling for the 7:45 tena 12, which became the Graham Hollywood.
After the war, it soldits automotive holdings to Kaiser Frazier
and branched into real estate, rebranding
as the MadisonSquare Garden Corporation in 1962.
(04:29):
The company exists todayand still owns the famous New York venue
of the same name, Hudson,which would later make a name for itself.
In the early days of NASCAR, took tothe skies and the seas during the war.
The Hudson plant cranked outmany components, ranging from marine
engines, anti-aircraft armorpiercing shells to pistons
(04:51):
for aircraft and major body componentsfor the Boeing 29 Superfortress,
the very aircraftthat would change history forever.
In fact, Hudsonbuilt the rear fuselage wingtips, outer
wing leading edges, and Hitlerruns for the Enola Gay, the B-29
that dropped the atomic bombon Hiroshima on August 6th, 1945.
(05:16):
With plants in Chicago,
South Bend,Indiana, Fort Wayne, and Los Angeles.
Studebaker providedone of the highest outputs
of aircraft enginesamong the independence.
From January 1944 to the summer of 1945,they produced right after 1820
cyclone aircraft engines used exclusivelyin the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress.
(05:38):
Studebaker also producedmore than 130,000 trucks of various types,
including the rugged sixby six utility vehicles
that served countless missions overseas.
One of the smallest automakers of the era,
both in statureand production, was Crosley.
Yet their wartime assignment was anythingbut small.
(06:00):
In 1941,they started building the CT three, a pint
sized version of the Jeep designedfor reconnaissance and base transport.
But it's what they're least known for thatmade them such a valuable partner
to Uncle Sam.
Assembling variable timingproximity fuzes a device so advanced
some say it was even more closely guardedthan the Manhattan Project itself.
(06:24):
This ingenious fuze allowed anti-aircraftshells to detonate based on radio
frequencies, causing explosions
near enemy aircraftwithout requiring direct hits.
The technology proved devastatinglyeffective in land to air and sea to air
combat, even playing a critical rolein shooting down German V-1 flying bombs.
(06:45):
Checker, a nameeverybody associates with taxis,
was called upon to build semi-trailersand water
tankers, workhorsesessential to logistics and supply.
Packard, known for its luxury cars,transformed its factories to produce
powerful aero and marine engines,powering everything from fighter planes
to patrol boats.
(07:07):
While the government would placethe most pressure on the Big Three
automakers to churn out tanks,planes and trucks in staggering numbers,
these smaller companiesfilled the crucial niches
that kept the warmachine running, proving that victory was
not just the work of giants, but a diverseand determined industrial army.
(07:28):
It was their efforts that providedessential support for the production
capabilities of General Motors,Chrysler and Ford
Motor Company.
Speaking of which,
Ford, Lincoln and Mercury plantsbuilt a wide swath of vehicles
and munitions,including 282,000 and 354 jeeps,
(07:52):
plus another 12,782 seats,
a form of amphibious jeeps,but Ford's most legendary
contribution came not from their trucksbut from the skies.
The Willow Run Bomber plant in Michigan,a government financed facility
that was designed, built, equippedand staffed entirely by Ford,
(08:12):
is recognized as a massive feat ofengineering and logistics all on its own.
When the dust settled, Ford'sWillow Run had produced
6790 B-24 Liberators
long range bombers that carried the fightdeep into enemy territory.
Ford's factories didn't stop there.
They also produced more than 2500 pulsejet engines,
(08:34):
which were the heart of the German V-1flying bombs.
American counterpart,plus 55,000 radial aircraft engines,
3000 aircrafttugs, and 145,000 trucks of various types.
Chrysler had 13 plants, 12
clustered in the industrial Midwestand one out west in Los Angeles,
(08:56):
and they were just as busywith wartime production.
Their crown jewel was the DetroitArsenal Tank plant in Warren,
Michigan, financed by the governmentand specially built
and managed by Chryslerto meet the urgent demands of war.
From that single facility, roughly one
quarter of all American tanksrolled out 22,207 of them in total.
(09:19):
This includes the iconic M4 Sherman tank
and its sibling, the M3.
These steel beasts would become symbolsof Allied armor, might storming
battlefieldsacross Europe and the Pacific,
but Chrysler's contributionswent far beyond tanks.
The men and womenworking in their factories
produced vital aircraft parts and engines,and in one of the most secret
(09:42):
and critical undertakingsof the entire war, Chrysler was entrusted
with building uranium separation equipmentfor the Manhattan Project.
Imagine this more than 100 train carsworth of highly specialized machinery
rolled out of Chrysler'splants destined for Oak Ridge, Tennessee,
home to a facility that was shroudedin secrecy where the near impossible task
(10:04):
of separating fissile materialfor the atomic bomb was underway.
Meanwhile, at General Motors,
various divisions manufacturednearly half of all war products built
by the American automakers during WorldWar Two with its five car divisions
Cadillac, Pontiac, Buick, Oldsmobile,and Chevrolet Plus subsidiaries
(10:27):
like Fisher Body, GMC Truck CoachDivision and Delco Spark Plugs.
GM's industrial empire was beyond vast.
Delco itself undertookmore than 290 million in contracts.
GM handled nearly every kind of
contract imaginable,from the smallest precision
parts to entire tanks and P-51Mustang fighter planes.
(10:50):
On August 24th, 1945,just nine days after victory in Japan,
Cadillac built its last tank in M24,
which marked the end of wartime productionfor the luxury automaker.
When all is said and done, General Motorshad delivered more than $14 billion
worth of machinery, engines, vehiclesand munitions to the war effort.
(11:13):
That's more than 250,000,000,000in 20 $25.
By the summer of 1945.
With victory looming on the horizon.
Ford became the first major automakerto flip the switch
back to peacetime production on July 3rd.
The first new 1946Ford rolled off the assembly line.
(11:33):
A car presented to presidentHarry Truman himself.
That year, Ford would go on to build34,440 cars,
more than any other automaker.
Each of those cars representing a will
to move forwardafter such a devastating global affair.
(11:54):
When the all the guns finally fell silent,
the American auto industry had produceda staggering 20% of all government
funded wartimematerials and vehicles, 29 billion
worth of vital tools for victory.
The behind every plane,
every tank, every truck and every partstood the men and women across America.
(12:15):
Workerswho adapted, endured and rose to meet
the greatest challengethe country had ever faced.
Their tireless efforts showwhat is possible
when a nation unites.
Thank you for listening to fuelfor the future, presented by State Farm
Insurance and driven by America'sAutomotive Trust.
Learn more at America's Automotive Trust.
(12:36):
Ford.
Just weeks after the US entered WorldWar Two.
On January 1st, 1942,the Office of Production
Management instituted the Lend Lease Act,
which ordered all civilian auto productionto stop by February 22nd.
This ensured raw materialscould be used for critical war production.
When the day came, 520,000 new carsset stockpiled.
(00:27):
Those precious vehicleswould become available
only to essential driversas deemed by the US government.
On today's episode,we look at how American
automotive companies took on WorldWar Two.
This is fuel for the future.
Presented by State Farm Insuranceand driven by America's Automotive Trust.
I'm Michael Mann.
(00:52):
By the end of 1941,
21 major car brands were producingcivilian vehicles in the United States.
Up to that point, Americahad seen the rise and fall of hundreds,
if not thousands of automakers,mostly in the industry's earliest days.
The survivors, including the Big Three'smany brands to independents like
(01:15):
Studebaker, Willys, overland and Checker,represented a massive share of all U.S.
manufacturing.
So when the war came knocking, threateningthe American way of life,
every one of them stepped forwardto fight.
As I mentioned in the introduction,just weeks after the U.S.
entered World War Two,the Lend-Lease act was instituted,
(01:35):
which ordered all civilian autoproduction to stop.
And this left 520,000 new carssitting around in.
Those vehicles were only availableto essential drivers, and these included
doctors, police, civil servants,and those in similar roles.
Once the last civilian car rolled offeach assembly line,
(01:57):
the switch to wartime production occurredalmost instantly.
Factories retooled, workers retrained.
New hires poured in,including largely for the first time,
massive numbers of womenas the men had been shipped off to fight.
It was a remarkable show of patriotism,
and the scale of outputwould prove to be staggering.
(02:19):
Ask who built what?
And the answer is simple. Everyone.
The big companies built big guns, planesand tanks, but the smaller
independents pulled their weightto take American Bantam, for example.
They laid the groundwork for one ofthe most iconic vehicles of the era
before the US joined the war.
(02:39):
The military asked 135 companies to design
a four wheel drive reconnaissance vehicle.
Only two answered the call.
Bantam and Willys Overland Bantamsprototype met almost every requirement
that, because of the small sizeof the company, the Army didn't
believe that they could build75 units per day as they required.
(03:01):
So the blueprints went to Willis,who refined the design
into the Willis EMB, which would laterbecome known as the Jeep.
During the war, Ford
built them two, leaving Bantamwith a different mission altogether.
Manufacturing key componentslike trailers, axles, transfer cases,
and even rocket motors.
But WillysOverland would be best known for the Jeep.
(03:24):
Their war time story runs deeper.
They played a crucial rolein producing something far
less famous, but no less importantthe J.B.
loom.
This was America's
first cruise missile, reverseengineered from the German V-1 buzz bomb.
It was originally designed for a missionthat never happened.
The planned invasion of Japan,
(03:44):
just 1292 of these missilesever left the factory floors.
Many vehicles built by
automakers were designedfor special missions,
such as the marine landing craftand amphibious tractors built by Graham
Page, a name few outside of the collectorcar world remember today.
(04:07):
Before the war, they had dreamsof producing fine cars, having acquired
the dyes and tooling for the 7:45 tena 12, which became the Graham Hollywood.
After the war, it soldits automotive holdings to Kaiser Frazier
and branched into real estate, rebranding
as the MadisonSquare Garden Corporation in 1962.
(04:29):
The company exists todayand still owns the famous New York venue
of the same name, Hudson,which would later make a name for itself.
In the early days of NASCAR, took tothe skies and the seas during the war.
The Hudson plant cranked outmany components, ranging from marine
engines, anti-aircraft armorpiercing shells to pistons
(04:51):
for aircraft and major body componentsfor the Boeing 29 Superfortress,
the very aircraftthat would change history forever.
In fact, Hudsonbuilt the rear fuselage wingtips, outer
wing leading edges, and Hitlerruns for the Enola Gay, the B-29
that dropped the atomic bombon Hiroshima on August 6th, 1945.
(05:16):
With plants in Chicago,
South Bend,Indiana, Fort Wayne, and Los Angeles.
Studebaker providedone of the highest outputs
of aircraft enginesamong the independence.
From January 1944 to the summer of 1945,they produced right after 1820
cyclone aircraft engines used exclusivelyin the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress.
(05:38):
Studebaker also producedmore than 130,000 trucks of various types,
including the rugged sixby six utility vehicles
that served countless missions overseas.
One of the smallest automakers of the era,
both in statureand production, was Crosley.
Yet their wartime assignment was anythingbut small.
(06:00):
In 1941,they started building the CT three, a pint
sized version of the Jeep designedfor reconnaissance and base transport.
But it's what they're least known for thatmade them such a valuable partner
to Uncle Sam.
Assembling variable timingproximity fuzes a device so advanced
some say it was even more closely guardedthan the Manhattan Project itself.
(06:24):
This ingenious fuze allowed anti-aircraftshells to detonate based on radio
frequencies, causing explosions
near enemy aircraftwithout requiring direct hits.
The technology proved devastatinglyeffective in land to air and sea to air
combat, even playing a critical rolein shooting down German V-1 flying bombs.
(06:45):
Checker, a nameeverybody associates with taxis,
was called upon to build semi-trailersand water
tankers, workhorsesessential to logistics and supply.
Packard, known for its luxury cars,transformed its factories to produce
powerful aero and marine engines,powering everything from fighter planes
to patrol boats.
(07:07):
While the government would placethe most pressure on the Big Three
automakers to churn out tanks,planes and trucks in staggering numbers,
these smaller companiesfilled the crucial niches
that kept the warmachine running, proving that victory was
not just the work of giants, but a diverseand determined industrial army.
(07:28):
It was their efforts that providedessential support for the production
capabilities of General Motors,Chrysler and Ford
Motor Company.
Speaking of which,
Ford, Lincoln and Mercury plantsbuilt a wide swath of vehicles
and munitions,including 282,000 and 354 jeeps,
(07:52):
plus another 12,782 seats,
a form of amphibious jeeps,but Ford's most legendary
contribution came not from their trucksbut from the skies.
The Willow Run Bomber plant in Michigan,a government financed facility
that was designed, built, equippedand staffed entirely by Ford,
(08:12):
is recognized as a massive feat ofengineering and logistics all on its own.
When the dust settled, Ford'sWillow Run had produced
6790 B-24 Liberators
long range bombers that carried the fightdeep into enemy territory.
Ford's factories didn't stop there.
They also produced more than 2500 pulsejet engines,
(08:34):
which were the heart of the German V-1flying bombs.
American counterpart,plus 55,000 radial aircraft engines,
3000 aircrafttugs, and 145,000 trucks of various types.
Chrysler had 13 plants, 12
clustered in the industrial Midwestand one out west in Los Angeles,
(08:56):
and they were just as busywith wartime production.
Their crown jewel was the DetroitArsenal Tank plant in Warren,
Michigan, financed by the governmentand specially built
and managed by Chryslerto meet the urgent demands of war.
From that single facility, roughly one
quarter of all American tanksrolled out 22,207 of them in total.
(09:19):
This includes the iconic M4 Sherman tank
and its sibling, the M3.
These steel beasts would become symbolsof Allied armor, might storming
battlefieldsacross Europe and the Pacific,
but Chrysler's contributionswent far beyond tanks.
The men and womenworking in their factories
produced vital aircraft parts and engines,and in one of the most secret
(09:42):
and critical undertakingsof the entire war, Chrysler was entrusted
with building uranium separation equipmentfor the Manhattan Project.
Imagine this more than 100 train carsworth of highly specialized machinery
rolled out of Chrysler'splants destined for Oak Ridge, Tennessee,
home to a facility that was shroudedin secrecy where the near impossible task
(10:04):
of separating fissile materialfor the atomic bomb was underway.
Meanwhile, at General Motors,
various divisions manufacturednearly half of all war products built
by the American automakers during WorldWar Two with its five car divisions
Cadillac, Pontiac, Buick, Oldsmobile,and Chevrolet Plus subsidiaries
(10:27):
like Fisher Body, GMC Truck CoachDivision and Delco Spark Plugs.
GM's industrial empire was beyond vast.
Delco itself undertookmore than 290 million in contracts.
GM handled nearly every kind of
contract imaginable,from the smallest precision
parts to entire tanks and P-51Mustang fighter planes.
(10:50):
On August 24th, 1945,just nine days after victory in Japan,
Cadillac built its last tank in M24,
which marked the end of wartime productionfor the luxury automaker.
When all is said and done, General Motorshad delivered more than $14 billion
worth of machinery, engines, vehiclesand munitions to the war effort.
(11:13):
That's more than 250,000,000,000in 20 $25.
By the summer of 1945.
With victory looming on the horizon.
Ford became the first major automakerto flip the switch
back to peacetime production on July 3rd.
The first new 1946Ford rolled off the assembly line.
(11:33):
A car presented to presidentHarry Truman himself.
That year, Ford would go on to build34,440 cars,
more than any other automaker.
Each of those cars representing a will
to move forwardafter such a devastating global affair.
(11:54):
When the all the guns finally fell silent,
the American auto industry had produceda staggering 20% of all government
funded wartimematerials and vehicles, 29 billion
worth of vital tools for victory.
The behind every plane,
every tank, every truck and every partstood the men and women across America.
(12:15):
Workerswho adapted, endured and rose to meet
the greatest challengethe country had ever faced.
Their tireless efforts showwhat is possible
when a nation unites.
Thank you for listening to fuelfor the future, presented by State Farm
Insurance and driven by America'sAutomotive Trust.
Learn more at America's Automotive Trust.
(12:36):
Ford.
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