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  
   

 Motor Products Corporation in World War Two
Detroit, MI
1916 - 1958?

This page added 2-12-2022.


The Motors Products Corporation won the Army-Navy "E" Award one time during World War Two.

I had never heard of the Motors Products Corporation until I found Information on the company at the Michigan Military Historical & Technical Society.  This organization has an excellent museum containing military products made in the state of Michigan used in defense of the United States.  It also has a large collection of historical documents including the "1943 Year Book" by the Motors Products Corporation below.  I want to thank the staff at the Michigan Military Historical & Technical Society for allowing me to use this and tell the forgotten story of the Motors Products Company in World War Two.

Motors Products Corporation began operations in Detroit in 1916 supplying trim components to the independent automakers like Hudson, Nash, and Packard.  However, as these companies fell by the wayside in the 1950s under the competitive pressures from the Big Three automakers, Motors Products Corporation lost its customer base and closed not long after Packard Motors closed in 1958.  The company was another in the long list of Detroit auto suppliers that went out of business as competition increased and the number of automobile companies decreased.

Table 1 - Motor Products Corporation's Major World War Two Contracts
The information below comes from the "Alphabetical Listing of Major War Supply Contracts, June 1940 through September 1945."  This was published by the Civilian Production Administration, Industrial Statistics Division.
Product Contract Amount Contract Awarded Completion Date
Cartridge Cases $2,475,000 4-1942 4-1943
Turret Kits $55,000 12-1942 12-1942
Cases Cartridge $2,650,000 3-1943 12-1943
Brass Cartridge Cases $4,995,000 6-1943 6-1944
Gun Turret Assemblies $13,274,000 9-1943 9-1944
Airplane Parts $150,000 10-1943 6-1944
Gun Charger Kits $161,000 1-1944 5-1944
Swivel Valves $68,000 5-1944 8-1945
Airplane Gun Turrets $211,000 8-1944 4-1945
Total $24,039,000    

Table 1 indicates that the company had a total of $24,039,000 in major contracts during World War Two.  One of the missing items is the bushings mentioned below that went into Sherman tanks and Wolverine tank destroyers.  These and other parts may not have been considered major contracts and not included in the summary.  However, Table 1 does complement the information below by giving production dates and the dollar value of the contracts.

The first contract Motor Products Corporation was awarded was for cartridge cases.  This was very typical of many companies during World War Two.  One thing the military knew was that it was going to need lots of ammunition, and these were rather easy items to make compared to some of the more complicated products for which companies would later be contracted.  Motor Products Corporation had three contracts for 20mm cartridge cases totaling $10,120,000 or 42% of its World War Two contracts.  The three contracts for gun turrets totaled $13,540,000 or 54% of the company's major contracts.  The two combined made up 96% of Motor Products Corporation's World War Two major contracts. 

The only existing document of the company may well be the "1943 Year Book - Motors Products Corp - War Development Production and Expansion."

Motor Products Corporation World War Two Products:  The company made two products for the B-24 which were rear turrets and engine mounts.  Most likely, these were for the B-24s being built by the Ford Motor Company at its Willow Run Bomber Plant.  The company also built M4 series tank and M10 series tank destroyer bushings, P-47 vertical stabilizers, B-26 cockpit enclosures, Quonset Hut arch rib sections, and 20mm cartridge cases for the U.S. Navy.




Shown here is a short listing of the company's pre-war products and the war material it was making in 1943.


Chrysler, Fisher Body Division of General Motors, and the Ford Motor Company all produced Sherman tanks in southeastern Michigan in 1943.  Motor Products Corporation could have made bushings for any of these three local companies.  It could have also supplied bushings to the railway industry companies that also made Sherman tanks.  However, only Fisher Body and the Ford Motor Company produced tank destroyers based on the Sherman tank chassis.


This Fisher Body-built M4A3(75)VVSS was built in 1944 and is on display at the U.S. Cavalry Museum at Fort Riley, KS.  It may well have Motor Products bushings in it.  Author's photo.


This M36 Jackson Tank Destroyer is also on display at the U.S. Cavalry Museum. It was built as a Ford M10A1 with serial number 2274 in April 1943.  It started life as an M10A1 Wolverine tank destroyer before being converted to an M36.  This most likely has Motor Products bushings in it.  Author's photo.


Republic Aviation was located on Long Island, NY but also produced P-47s in Evansville, IN.  Motor Products could have been chosen to supply vertical stabilizers for the Evansville, IN plant due to its proximity.  This P-47D was built at Evansville.  Author's photo.


The vertical stabilizer.  Author's photo.


This P-47D was also built in Evansville and is on display at the Evansville Wartime Museum located at the Evansville, IN airport.  The aircraft is a mile away from the plant where it was built.  Author's photo. 


This Martin B-26 Marauder is on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force.  Author's photo.   


Motor Products Corporation made the sheet metal and Plexiglas framework that covered the cockpit for the pilot and co-pilot.  Author's photo. 


Author's photo. 


Quonset huts were built in various styles and sizes by a number of different companies during World War Two.  Many of them were made by the Stran-Steel Division of the Great Lakes Steel Company in Detroit, MI.  It seems reasonable that Motor Products Corporation would be a supplier of arc rib sections to Stran-Steel.  One of the best places to find Quonset huts is at the Seabee Museum and Memorial Park in North Kingston, RI.  Author's photo. 


This is one of several erection instructions for various sizes of Quonset huts manufactured by Stran-Steel that are on display at the Seabee Museum in Rhode Island.  Author's photo.


Shown here is an engineering drawing of a Quonset hut. 

Table 1 - Motor Products Corporation's Major World War Two Aircraft Gun Turret Contracts
The information below comes from the "Alphabetical Listing of Major War Supply Contracts, June 1940 through September 1945."  This was published by the Civilian Production Administration, Industrial Statistics Division.
Product Contract Amount Contract Awarded Completion Date
Gun Turret Assemblies $13,274,000 9-1943 9-1944
Airplane Gun Turrets $211,000 8-1944 4-1945
Total $13,485,000    


The Consolidated tail gun turret on this Ford-built B-24J on display at the at the Barksdale Global Power Museum at Barksdale AFB in Bossier City, LA looks very much like one in the photo above.  Ford built 6,790 B-24 at its Willow Run, MI plant outside of Detroit.  It was the nearest B-24 assembly plant to Motor Products Corporation.  Motor Products Corporation built the Consolidated A-6B and A-6C tail gun turret.  With 1,200 workers assigned to build rear B-24 turrets, Motor Products Corporation was most likely the main supplier of these two models of rear turrets for Ford's B-24s.  Author's photo.


Author's photo.


Author's photo.


This is the rear turret on B-24 "Strawberry Bitch" at the National Museum of the United States Air Force.  Motor Products Corporation was one of several companies that manufactured rear turrets for the B-24.  This turret looks similar to the one on the page above but is not identical.  Most likely this rear turret was built by another company that was supplying the rear turrets for this B-24 that were built by Consolidated Aircraft at its San Diego, CA plant.  Author's photo.    


However, the photos do show the complexity of the rear turrets on the B-24, no matter what type or which company that manufactured it.  Author's photo.


This page is confusing.  While the verbiage notes that the company is working with the Army Air Forces Engineering Division at Wright Field in Dayton, OH, the photo is of a U.S. Navy Consolidated PB2Y Coronado patrol aircraft.  There is no connection between the photo and information about a second turret being developed.


This is a photo of the complete 20mm projectile, fuze, and shell casing.  Motors Products stamped out the shell casing for the U.S. Navy.  In 1943 the U.S. Navy purchased 468,039,000 rounds of 20mm ammunition from multiple suppliers including Motors Products Corporation.  For the entire war, the Navy purchased 1,153,639,000 rounds of 20mm ammunition from all suppliers.  Author's photo.


The 20mm Oerlikon started appearing on U.S. Navy ships in early 1942.  By the end of the war, every Navy and U.S. Merchant Marine ship was armed with the 20mm Oerlikon for close-in defense against air attack.  Motor Products Corporation was a significant contributor to keeping these weapons firing and protecting American ships and sailors.  Author's photo.


These two 20mm twin mounts are just two of nearly a dozen 20mm mounts on the destroyer escort USS Slater.  Author's photo.


  The Motor Products Corporation constructed B-24 engine mounts that were most likely installed on Ford-built B-24s like this one at Barksdale AFB, LA.  Author's photo.


Author's photo.

Motor Products Corporation Canadian Operation World War Two Products:  Universal carrier parts and stampings, 15-CWT 4x4 Canadian Military Pattern Truck parts, and MK.1 Fox armored car components.


This is one of 33,988 Universal Carriers built by Ford at its Windsor, ONT plant that has Motor Products Canada installed in it.  Author's photo.


"Ford Canada" is on a nameplate behind the drivers' location.  Author's photo.


Author's photo.


This is one of 209,000 Canadian Military Pattern Trucks built by Ford of Canada.  Motor Products Canada supplied many parts to not only these vehicles, but others Ford built at its Windsor, ONT plant.  Author's Photo.


 GM of Canada built 201,000 15-CWT 4x4 Canadian Military Pattern Trucks of various types with Motor Products Canada components installed in them.  Author's Photo.


General Motors of Canada built 1,506 MK.1 Fox armored cars during World War Two with components supplied by Motor Products Canada.  Author's Photo.

 

 

 

 

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