The American Automobile Industry in World War Two
An American Auto Industry Heritage Tribute by David D Jackson

 Overview      Lansing Michigan in World War Two   The U.S. Auto Industry at the Normandy Invasion, June 6, 1944    The U.S. Auto Industry and the B-29 Bomber   U.S. Auto Industry Army-Navy "E" Award Winners   The Complete listing of All Army-Navy "E" Award Winners   Sherman Tanks of the American Auto Industry   Tank Destroyers of the American Auto Industry    M26 Pershing Tanks of the American Auto Industry   M36 Tank Destroyers of the American Auto Industry   Serial Numbers for WWII Tanks built by the American Auto Industry   Surviving LCVP Landing Craft    WWII Landing Craft Hull Numbers   Airborne Extra-Light Jeep Photos  The American Auto Industry vs. the German V-1 in WWII   American Auto Industry-Built Anti-Aircraft Guns in WWII   VT Proximity Manufacturers of WWII   World War One Era Motor Vehicles   National Museum of Military Vehicles   Revisions   Links

 Automobile and Body Manufacturers:  American Bantam Car Company   Briggs Manufacturing Company   Checker Car Company   Chrysler Corporation   Crosley Corporation   Ford Motor Car Company   General Motors Corporation   Graham-Paige Motors Corporation   Hudson Motor Car Company   Murray Corporation of America   Nash-Kelvinator   Packard Motor Car Company      Studebaker    Willys-Overland Motors

General Motors Divisions:  AC Spark Plug   Aeroproducts   Allison   Brown-Lipe-Chapin   Buick   Cadillac   Chevrolet   Cleveland Diesel   Delco Appliance   Delco Products   Delco Radio   Delco-Remy   Detroit Diesel   Detroit Transmission   Electro-Motive   Fisher Body   Frigidaire   GM Proving Grounds   GM of Canada   GMC   GMI   Guide Lamp   Harrison Radiator   Hyatt Bearings   Inland   Moraine Products   New Departure   Oldsmobile   Packard Electric   Pontiac   Saginaw Malleable Iron   Saginaw Steering Gear   Southern California Division   Rochester Products   Ternstedt Manufacturing Division   United Motors Service   Vauxhall Motors

 Indiana Companies:  Bailey Products Corporation   Chrysler Kokomo Plant   Continental Steel Corporation  Converto Manufacturing    Cummins Engine Company   Diamond Chain and Manufacturing Company   Delta Electric Company   Durham Manufacturing Company   Farnsworth Television and Radio Corporation   General Electric Kokomo Plant   Haynes Stellite Company   Hercules Body Company   Horton Manufacturing Company   Howe Fire Apparatus   International Machine Tool Company   J.D. Adams Company   Kokomo Spring Company   Magnavox   Muncie Gear Works   Pierce Governor Company   Portland Forge and Foundry   Reliance Manufacturing Company-Kokomo Plant   Reliance Manufacturing Company-Washington Plant   Republic Aviation Corporation - Indiana Division   Ross Gear and Tool Company   S.F. Bowser & Co.   Sherrill Research Corporation   Tokheim Oil Tank and Pump Company   Warner Gear   Wayne Pump Company   Wayne Works

Commercial Truck and Fire Apparatus Manufacturers:  American LaFrance   Autocar   Biederman Motors Corporation   Brockway Motor Company   Detroit General   Diamond T   Duplex Truck Company   Federal Motor Truck   Four Wheel Drive Auto Company(FWD)   International Harvester   John Bean   Mack Truck   Marmon-Herrington Company   Michigan Power Shovel Company   Oshkosh Motor Truck Corporation   Pacific Car and Foundry   "Quick-Way" Truck Shovel Company  Reo Motor Car Company  Seagrave Fire Apparatus   Sterling Motor Truck Company    Ward LaFrance Truck Corporation   White Motor Company

Aviation Companies:  Abrams Instrument Corporation    Frankfort Sailplane Company   Hughes Aircraft Company   Kellett Aviation Corporation   Laister-Kauffman Aircraft Corporation   Naval Aircraft Factory   P-V Engineering Forum, Inc.    Rudolf Wurlitzer Company-DeKalb Division  Schweizer Aircraft Corporation   Sikorsky Division of United Aircraft Corporation   St. Louis Aircraft Corporation   Timm Aircraft Corporation

Other World War Two Manufacturers:  Air King Products   Allis-Chalmers   American Car and Foundry   American Locomotive   American Stove Company   Annapolis Yacht Yard   Andover Motors Company   B.F. Goodrich   Baker War Industries   Baldwin Locomotive Works   Blood Brothers Machine Company   Boyertown Auto Body Works   Briggs & Stratton   Burke Electric Company   Caterpillar   Cheney Bigelow Wire Works   Centrifugal Fusing   Chris-Craft   Clark Equipment Company   Cleaver-Brooks Company   Cleveland Tractor Company   Continental Motors   Cushman Motor Works   Crocker-Wheeler   Dail Steel Products   Detroit Wax Paper Company   Detrola   Engineering & Research Corporation   Farrand Optical Company   Federal Telephone and Radio Corp.   Firestone Tire and Rubber Company   Fruehauf Trailer Company   Fuller Manufacturing   Galvin Manufacturing   Gemmer Manufacturing Company   General Railway Signal Company   Gerstenslager Company   Gibson Guitar   Gibson Refrigerator Company   Goodyear   Hall-Scott   Hanson Clutch and Machinery Company   Harley-Davidson   Harris-Seybold-Potter   Herreshoff Manufacturing Company   Higgins Industries    Highway Traile    Hill Diesel Company   Holland Hitch Company   Homelite Company   Horace E. Dodge Boat and Plane Corporation   Huffman Manufacturing   Indian Motorcycle   Ingersoll Steel and Disk   Iron Fireman Manufacturing Company   John Deere   Johnson Automatics Manufacturing Company   Kimberly-Clark   Kohler Company   Kold-Hold Company   Landers, Frary & Clark  Lima Locomotive Works   Lundberg Screw Products   MacKenzie Muffler Company   Massey-Harris   Matthews Company   McCord Radiator & Mfg. Company   Metal Mouldings Corporation   Miller Printing Machinery Company   Morse Instrument Company   Motor Products Corporation   Motor Wheel Corporation   National Cash Resgister Company   Novo Engine Company   O'Keefe & Merritt Company   Olofsson Tool and Die Company   Oneida Ltd   Otis Elevator   Owens Yacht   Pressed Steel Car Company   Pressed Steel Tank Company   Queen City Manufacturing Company   R.G. LeTourneau   Richardson Boat Company   R.L. Drake Company   St. Clair Rubber Company   Samson United Corporation   Shakespeare Company   Sight Feed Generator Company   Simplex Manufacturing Company   Steel Products Engineering Company   St. Louis Car Company   Twin Disc Company   Victor Adding Machine Company   Vilter Manufacturing Company   Wells-Gardner   W.L. Maxson Corporation   W.W. Boes Company   Westfield Manufacturing Company   York-Hoover Body Company   York-Shipley, Inc.   Youngstown Steel Door Company  
   

Frigidaire Division of General Motors Corporation During World War Two
Dayton, OH
1916-1979
Rest in Peace
Frigidaire was sold by GM to White Consolidated Industries in 1979. 

This page updated 11-10-2023.


Image added 11-10-2023.


Frigidaire Division of GM World War Two Products:  363,000 .50 Caliber Browning M2 Aircraft Machine Guns, 1,000,000 spare .50 Caliber Machine Gun Barrels.  First Contract was in June 1941.  Frigidaire engineers made over 500 design and manufacturing changes to reduce the cost of the machine gun to 25% of the original cost, using mass manufacturing techniques.  Frigidaire chambered one million FP-45 "Liberator" pistols to .45 caliber.

Frigidaire made 21,263 three blade Hamilton Standard propellers for the C-47, B-17, B-24, PB4Y and C-87.  It also made 54,737 four blade propellers for the B-29 and P-47.

Frigidaire also built components for both three and four bladed Aeroproducts propellers, which was another GM Division located in nearby Vandalia, OH.  These propellers were installed on the Bell P-39 and P-63.  Components supplied by Frigidaire were the blades, hub, regulator assembly, blade thrust member and other parts.

Various components the Division made included the long-range fuel tanks for the famous Doolittle Raiders' B-25s, components for the Hispano-Suiza 20mm aerial cannon built by Oldsmobile, diesel cylinders and heads the Electro-Motive Division of GM that were installed in Sub Chasers, carburetor bodies for radial aircraft engines, 20mm Oerlikon cannon magazine front and back plates, and millions of .50 caliber bullet cores.

For a more complete story on Frigidaire's contribution to victory in World War Two, see its 1944 publication "Frigidaire at War" farther down this page.  It is one of the best of the GM publications from the war showing its products and how they were made.



Frigidaire won the Army-Navy "E" Award twice during World War Two.
It won the first award on August 22, 1942 for high achievement in the production of war material. 


Frigidaire built Hamilton Standard propellers during World War Two under license for the Boeing B-29 Superfortress.  The B-29, "Fifi," of the Commemorative Air Force, taxies into her spot at the Dayton Airshow in 2013.  The Frigidaire props have come home.  Author's photo.


Author's photo.


Going to work at Frigidaire to help win the war.


One of many B-25s that came to Ohio in 2012 to commemorate the 70th Anniversary of the Doolittle Raid.  Frigidaire made B-25 parts, and for the 1942 Doolittle Raid on Tokyo only, built the long-range fuel tanks for the aircraft.  Author's photo.


Frigidaire also built Hamilton Standard four bladed props for the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt.  The eight .50 M2 aircraft machines seen here were also produced by Frigidaire.  Author's photo from the 2014 Thunder over Michigan Airshow.  Added 11-30-2014.


Many of the famous Boeing B-17s not only had Frigidaire built propellers, but bristled with .50 caliber M2 machines built by the Division.  Author's photo taken at Purdue University in August of 2013.  Added 11-30-2014.


Frigidaire was one of two automakers supplying propellers for the Consolidated B-24 Liberator.  Nash-Kelvinator was the other.  Author's photo from the 2014 Thunder over Michigan Airshow.  Added 11-30-2014.


Frigidaire made many components for the Aeroproducts four-bladed prop on this Bell P-63, including the blades, hub and regulator assembly.  Author's photo from the 2014 Thunder over Michigan Airshow.  Added 11-30-2014.


 The North American T-6 trainer had six hydraulic actuators that operated the landing gear and landing gear doors.  Author's photo from the 2014 Thunder over Michigan Airshow.  Added 11-30-2014.


Note that Frigidaire was involved in the manufacture of the million FP-45s built by chambering the barrels.  This information does not show in the 1944 "Frigidaire at War" shown below as the FP-45 was a secret weapon.  Author's photo taken at the National Museum of the Air Force.


Author's photo.


This cut-away of .50 caliber Browning machine gun was found in the maintenance shop of the National Armor and Cavalry Museum at Fort Benning, GA.  Author's photo added 10-7-2018.


Author's photo added 10-7-2018.


Author's photo added 10-7-2018.


A 110-foot Subchaser during WWII which was powered by two Electro-Motive Pancake engines.  Frigidaire made cylinders and heads for the Pancake engines.  Photo added 10-7-2018.


Frigidaire made front and rear plates for the magazine on the Oerlikon 20mm anti-aircraft cannon.  Author's photo added 10-7-2018.


Frigidaire made parts for tank tracks during WWII.  Author's photo added 10-7-2018.


This is an AN-2 20mm aircraft cannon.  It is a license-built version of the Hispano-Suiza 20mm aerial cannon.  Frigidaire made parts for these, which were then shipped to Oldsmobile Division of General Motors in Lansing, MI for final assembly.  Author's photo added 10-7-2018.

Frigidaire at War
1944

 

Below is a 1943 Frigidaire publication intended for new employees.  Only the relevant portions have been used here.  Another informative publication.


 

 

 

 

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