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   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 Built M18 Tank Destroyer Photos
Buick Motor Division of General Motors Corporation in World War Two
Flint, MI
1903-Present - (Now located in Warren, MI)

This page updated 11-20-2020.


The first races at the Indianapolis Speedway were held in August of 1909 and included both 10 mile and 250 mile events. Buick entered three cars, including this one.  Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum.  Author's Photo.


Author's Photo.


In the 1909 races, a driver by the name of Louis Chevrolet won the ten mile race.  He led for 52 miles in the main 250 mile race, which was won by one of the other Buick vehicles.  Author's Photo.


This pre-World War Two 1940 Buick Limited Series 80 passenger car was used by the U.S. Army as a staff car.  It was Serial Number 38315128.  It was on display at the 2017 MVPA National Convention in Cleveland, OH.  Author's photo added 12-25-2019.


Author's photo added 12-25-2019.


Author's photo added 12-25-2019.


Author's photo added 12-25-2019.

Buick Motor Division of GM World War Two Production Statistics:  (71,874) Pratt & Whitney R-1830 and (2,548) R-2000 radial aircraft engines, (2,507) M18 Tank Destroyers, (640) M39 Armored Tractors, (19,928) M4, M10, and M26 transmissions and final drive assemblies, (2,952) 90mm and 4.7 Anti-Aircraft Gun Mounts, (148,196) Diesel Engine Crankshafts, (2,424,000) 75mm steel cartridge cases, (1,149,300) 57mm shell bodies, (9,719,000) 20mm shell bodies, (3,120,000) Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Aluminum Cylinder Heads, (52,200) Aluminum Cylinder Blocks for the Packard-built Rolls-Royce Merlin aircraft engine, 204,500 Cylinder Blocks and Heads for Hercules engines, and (3,120,000) Cylinder Heads for the Pratt & Whitney aircraft engines.

Notes:  Final assembly of the Buick R-1830, which was used exclusively in the Consolidated B-24 bomber up through April 1944, was done at its plant in Melrose Park, IL, with  the machining and fabrication of components being shared between Melrose Park and Flint operations.  In April 1944, Buick signed a contract to continue building the R-1830 for the B-24.  It also began building the R-1830 model for the C-47, which was slightly different than the B-24 R-1830.  It also started producing the R-2000 engine for use in the Douglas C-54.  Production and assembly of the R-2000 was undertaken at the Buick home plant in Flint starting in February 1945.

Several sources erroneously indicate that the C-54 was powered by R-2800 engine instead of the R-2000, which then leads to the wrong assumption that Buick built R-2800 engines.  Page 132 of the 1950 Pratt & Whitney published book entitled "The Pratt & Whitney Story" clearly states that Buick built the R-2000, not the R-2800.  Only the C-54 used the R-2000 during World War Two.

The 640 M39 Armored Tractors were conversions of previously built M18 Hellcat Tank Destroyers.  Buick had the contract from Army Ordnance to do the work, but subcontracted all of the work to the nearby Fisher Body Grand Blanc plant, which did all of the work.


Buick Flint, MI won the Army-Navy "E" Award three times during World War Two.
Buick Melrose, IL won the Army-Navy "E" Award five times during World War Two.


The Pratt & Whitney R-1830 1,200 hp radial aircraft engine was on display at the National World War Two Museum in New Orleans, LA.  Out of the total 173,618 R-1830s built during the war, Buick made 71,874 of them in the government owned plant in Melrose Park, IL, west of Chicago.  This was 43% of the total.  Buick-built engines were used exclusively on the 18,190 Consolidated B-24s until April 1944, when Buick was contracted to build R-1830s for the C-47 as well.  It should be noted that Chevrolet also built R-1830s for the B-24 and C-47.   Author's photo.


This shows a close-up of one of the fourteen cylinders on the R-1830 with its cooling fins.  During the course of the Second World War. Buick built over 3.2 million cylinder heads for Pratt & Whitney radial aircraft engines.  Only 1,038,772 of the cylinder heads would be needed for Buick's own engine production.  After sparkplugs, which were changed sometimes after every combat mission, cylinder heads were next on the list of components replaced on a radial engine.  So, an adequate number of spares would have been required.  See pages 2-3 and 12-13 below in "Buick at its Battle Stations" for more information on this.  Note how labor intensive it was to make the fins on the castings.


This R-1830 display at the Tri-State Warbird Museum Batavia, OH shows the complexity of the engine.  Author's photo added 11-20-2020.


Author's photo added 11-20-2020.


This photo shows a couple of Buick-built engines are running on the B-24J Witchcraft.  Author's photo from the 2011 Wings of Freedom tour stop at Indianapolis Regional Airport.


 Here, Witchcraft powered by Buick-built R-1830 engines, does a fly-by.  Author's photo.


Many C-47s built in the last year of the war were powered by Buick-built R-1830 engines.  Author's photo.


This World War Two era photo gives an aerial view of the Melrose Park, IL, plant looking northwest.  The photo below was taken from the parking lot, looking in the same direction from the parking lot on the east side.  The complex covered 126 acres.


This is a contemporary photo of the former Buick aircraft engine plant in Melrose Park, IL, where 71,874 Pratt & Whitney R-1830 radial aircraft engines were assembled and tested before being installed in B-24s and C-47s during the last year of the war.  Engines would have been shipped from this location to B-24 assembly plants at Willow Run, MI, Tulsa, OK, Dallas, TX, Fort Worth, TX and San Diego, CA.  C-47s were built at Long Beach, CA, and Oklahoma City, OK.  Author's photo.


When Buick operated the plant, its name was on the front.  During World War Two the plant employed 10,000 persons.


 With the landscaping that has been added, one cannot get the same photo as above.  Author's photo.


The Melrose Park plant was one of nineteen government owned plants that General Motors operated during World War Two.  These facilities were built specifically for the production of war material.  In 1946, the 2,030,000 square foot plant was sold to International Harvester by the War Assets Administration.  Since that time, International Harvester, now Navistar, has manufactured six cylinder diesel engines in the facility. Author's photo.


The Douglas C-54.  Beginning in February 1945, Buick built 2,548 Pratt & Whitney R-2000 engines for this type of aircraft.  Author's photo added 1-24-2015 from the 2014 St. Louis Airshow.


This pristine example of a Buick-built M18 "Hellcat" tank destroyer was previously on display at the now closed National Military Historical Center in Auburn, IN.  This M18 is now in Florida as of 2017.  Author's photo.


Buick built 2,507 of these at its plant in Flint, MI. Author's photo.


   Author's photo.


Author's photo.


Author's photo.

Buick M18 Hellcat Production
1943 Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1944 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct
  6 83 112 150 267 194   250 218 170 150 150 150 150 150 150 157

 

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

 


A Buick built M18 "Hellcat" is in action in Europe.


This M18 can be seen at the Buick Museum in Flint, MI, just a couple of miles away from where it was built.  The factory that built it no longer stands.  This particular "Hellcat" was found in a junk yard in Europe after having served in conflicts in the Balkans at the end of the 20th century.  Author's photo. 
See pages 3-7 below in "Buick at its Battle Stations" for more information on the M18. 


This M18 Hellcat tank destroyer is on display at the AAF Tank Museum in Danville, VA and came to the museum after also serving in Bosnia.  Author's photo.


Author's photo.


Buick built 2,952 mounts for 90mm anti-aircraft guns like this one.  See page 14 below in "Buick at its Battle Stations" for more information.


This is a photo of a Detroit Diesel 6-71 engine.  Buick supplied 148,196 crankshafts for the approximately 190,000 engines built.  See page 15 below in "Buick at its Battle Stations" for more information on the diesel crankshaft production.


Detroit Diesel 6-71 engines were installed in 19,353 LCVP landing craft like this one seen at the First Division Museum at Cantigny in Wheaton, IL.  Buick built crankshafts for the 6-71 engines which were instrumental in many American amphibious landings, especially the famous one at Normandy.  Author's photo added 10-12-2015.


Buick built148,196 crankshafts for the 6-71.  So, this engine must have had a Buick crankshaft in it.  Author's photo added 10-12-2015.


Detroit Diesel can be seen stamped on the valve cover. Author's photo added 10-12-2015.


Not only did Buick-manufactured crankshafts end up in landing craft, but also in M4A2 Sherman tanks with Detroit Diesel engines.  Buick also supplied 19,928 transmissions that not only powered the Fisher Body-built M4A2 and M4A3, but the M10 tank destroyer and M26 Pershing tank as well.  Author's photo.


 The engines were in the rear of the M4A2s and M4A3s Sherman tanks, as well as the M10 Wolverine and M36 Jackson tank destroyers.  The driveshaft came up through the center of the tank to drive the treads from the front axle.  Buick built transmissions that transferred the power from the driveshaft to the front axle like on this M10 tank destroyer.  See page 9 below in "Buick at its Battle Stations" for more information on the diesel crankshaft production.  Author's photo.


Buick produced 204,500 cylinder heads and engine blocks for Hercules truck engines.  One application of the Hercules engine was this six cylinder JXD model that was used in the Studebaker 2-1/2-ton truck.  Studebaker obviously had its name on the intake manifold.  The 320 cu. in. engine could produce 86 hp.  Author's photo from the National Military Historical Center, Auburn, IN


Author's photo.


This Studebaker 2-1/2-ton truck was on display at the now closed National Military Historical Center.  This vehicle is no longer at this location as of December 2017.  Author's photo.

 
This Packard Rolls-Royce V-1650 Merlin in front of a P-51 Mustang was one of 54,714 engines that Packard built at its Detroit plant during the Second World War.  Buick supplied 52,200 aluminum cylinder blocks of the 109,428 needed for the engines.  Each engine had two blocks of six cylinders that mounted on the crankcase.  Author's photo at the National Museum of the US Air Force in Dayton, OH. 


With around 150 Mustangs still flying in the US, most likely many of them have Buick-built cylinder heads in their engines.  The Merlin was the best inline aircraft engine of WWII.  Author's photo

Buick at its Battle Stations
November 1944


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Find out more about Buick in WWII by visiting my links page.

 

 

 

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