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   Haynes Stellite Company   Hercules Body Company   Horton Manufacturing Company   Howe Fire Apparatus   J.D. Adams Company   Kokomo Spring Company   Magnavox  
Muncie Gear Works   Pierce Governor Company   Portland Forge and Foundry   Reliance Manufacturing Company   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   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   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   Gibson Guitar   Gibson Refrigerator Company   Goodyear   Hall-Scott   Hanson Clutch and Machinery Company   Harley-Davidson   Harris-Seybold-Potter   Herreshoff Manufacturing Company   Higgins Industries    Highway Trailer   Hill Diesel Company   Holland Hitch Company   Homelite Company   Horace E. Dodge Boat and Plane Corporation   Huffman Manufacturing   Indian Motorcycle   Ingersoll Steel and Disk   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   Queen City Manufacturing Company   R.G. LeTourneau   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   Youngstown Steel Door Company  
   

  Buick Overview

Buick built M18 Tank Destroyer Photos
Built at Flint, MI during 1943-44

This page updated 8-28-2019.

Buick M18 Hellcat Production
Jul43 Aug43 Sep43 Oct43 Nov43 Dec43 Jan44 Feb44 Mar44 Apr44 May44 Jun44 Jul44 Aug44 Sep44 Oct44 Total
6 83 112 150 267 194 250 218 170 150 150 150 150 150 150 157 2,507

Buick M18 Hellcat in Europe 1944-1945 - Strength and Losses

  Jun44 Jul44 Aug44 Sept44 Oct44 Nov44 Dec44 Jan45 Feb45 Mar45 Apr45  May45 Total
Strength 146 141 176 170 189 252 306 312 448 540 427 427 Losses
Losses 0 0 6 6 14 7 44 27 16 21 55 21 217


The  M18 Hellcat was powered by a Continental R-975 engine.


Buick M18 Hellcats undergoing final inspection at Buick.


Seventeen M18s in front of the Buick plant.

Location:  U.S. Army Armor and Cavalry Collection, Fort Benning, GA 
Serial Number:  740
US Registration Number:  Unknown
Date Built:  December 1943
Date of Photos: 9-18-2018
Comments:  This was photographed in the maintenance shop undergoing restoration.  With the panels off, this allowed photographs of the interior of the final drive assembly, and how the engine can be slid out from behind the Hellcat.


The engine slides out on the two rails on the sides of the platform.  It does not take a crane to lift it out of the engine bay as with other armored vehicles of the era.


Location:  WW2 Armor, Osteen, FL (Formerly at the Ropkey Armor Museum, Crawfordsville, IN.)
Serial Number:  769
US Registration Number: 
Date Built:  December 1943
Date of Photos: 8-16-2019, 3-15-2019, 3-28-2016

I was able to see M18 SN  twice in 2019.  The first time was at the WW2 Armor facility in March.  The second was at the D-Day Conneaut 75 Reenactment in Conneaut, OH in August.

 


During my visit, the engine was out of the M18, and was being rebuilt.  The tracks will be replaced with M24 Chaffee tracks after then engine is repaired.


Below are photos taken the M18 was at the Ropkey Museum.


Looking through the driver's hatch the Detroit Transmission Division of GM Torqmatic automatic transmission is viewable.  The Buick M18 was the only tank destroyer to have an automatic transmission.


Here the gearshift handle is viewable along with the gear indication on top of the transmission.  On the floor there are only the accelerator and brake pedals.  A clutch pedal is not needed with the automatic transmission. 


Location:  WW2 Armor, Osteen, FL
Serial Number:  1240
US Registration Number:  40115116
Date Built:  February 1944
Date of Photos:  3-15-2019


When I visited in March 2019, the tracks had been removed to be replaced by M24 Chaffee tracks.  With the rubber pads on the Chaffee tracks, they will allow the M18 to go places and not tear up concrete or asphalt. 


Location:  American Armored Foundation Museum, Dansville, VA
Serial Number:  Unknown
US Registration Number:  Unknown
Date Built:  Unknown
Date of Photos: 11-8-2015


Location:  Buick Museum, Flint, MI
Serial Number:  Unknown
US Registration Number:  Unknown
Date Built:  Unknown
Date of Photos: 6-17-2011 and 6-28-2015


This photo was taken in June, 2011.  It was part of a combined Flint Buick and Chevrolet WWII display.


When I returned to the museum four years later in June 2015 the Hellcat had been moved a stairway erected to allow visitors to look into the turret.


Location:  Museum of American Armor, Old Bethpage, NY
Serial Number:  Unknown
US Registration Number:  Unknown
Date Built:  Unknown
Date of Photos:  5-30-2018


Every once in a while I get lucky!  My visit to the Museum of American Armor May 30, 2018 was one of those occasions.  The museum staff was in the process of moving many of the pieces of equipment outside make room in the building for a catered party that evening.  I was able to watch and listen to many of the vehicles as they moved outside.  The start-up of the M18 Hellcat was the most spectacular.  Author's photo added 6-12-2018.


With all of the smoke in the facility the smoke alarm was going off in the building at this point.  Author's photo added 6-12-2018.


This photo was taken before the engine start.  Lighting is everything it taking photos.  With the backlight from the windows the photos from this side of the vehicle give the M18 a brown tint.  Author's photo added 6-12-2018.


From the other side the M18 is a more green color.  Author's photo added 6-12-2018.


Author's photo added 6-12-2018.


Author's photo added 6-12-2018.


Author's photo added 6-12-2018.


Author's photo added 6-12-2018.


Author's photo added 6-12-2018.


A study in contrasts.  The M18 has transfer case in front of the engine compartment which allows the drive shaft to run along the floor of the vehicle to the transmission in front.  That along with the torsion bar suspension give it a lower and modern looking profile compared to the M4A3.   Author's photo added 6-12-2018.


Location:  National Military History Center, Auburn, IN - This was sold in auction in 2017.  Unknown new owner.
Serial Number:  Unknown
US Registration Number:  Unknown
Date Built:  Unknown
Date of Photos: 11-17-2013


Location:  US Army Heritage Center, Carlisle, PA
Serial Number: 
US Registration Number:  Unknown
Date Built:  Unknown
Date of Photos:  6-1-2017


Location:  Virginia Museum of Military Vehicles, Nokesville, VA
Serial Number:  2295
US Registration Number:  Unknown
Date Built:  Unknown
Date of Photos:  9-24-2016

 

 

 

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