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  
   

 Andover Motors Company During World War Two
Elmira, NY

1940-1942 as
Ruckstell-Burkhardt Company, Detroit, MI
1942-1945 as
Andover Motors Company, Elmira, NY

This page added 3-4-2023.

The Andover Motors Company was one of several companies I have researched that were only in business during World War Two.  Once the war ended, the product or products of these companies were not able to find a civilian market, and the companies closed.

Andover Motors Company produced auxiliary power units (APU'S) that were used primarily in U.S. Army Air Forces bomber aircraft.  The known applications were for the Boeing B-29 and the Consolidated-Vultee B-32 Dominator aircraft.  The company originally started operations as Ruckstell-Burkhardt of Detroit, MI which had developed an APU that was of interest to the USAAF.  In early 1942 the company moved to Elmira, NY, and on June 1, 1942, Ruckstell-Burkhardt was purchased by Andover-Kent Aviation corporation of Middleton CT.  The Elmira operation was renamed as the Andover Motors Company. 

The Andover Motors Company leased space from the Remington-Rand factory in Elmira.  This factory complex was at the location of the former Willys-Morrow plant on South Main Street in Elmira.  In 1945 the company employed 350 workers engaged in providing 3,970 APUs for B-29s and 118 for the B-32s built for the war effort.  By the end of August 1945, Remington-Rand had re-occupied most of the floor space it had leased to Andover Motors.  Remington-Rand needed the space to begin the production of typewriters, which the plant had produced previous to the war.  The 350 Andover Motors Company employees that had lost their jobs with the end of the war could have, if they wanted, gone to work for Remington-Rand, as it was hiring new employees.

In December 1945, the remainder of Andover Motors Company equipment was sold under sealed bids. 


The Andover Motor Company won the Army-Navy "E" award one time on April 18, 1945. 


Andover Motor Company's World War Two Products:  Table 1 shows that the company had $32,746,000 in major contracts during World War Two.  $32,544,000 of the total were in two contracts released by the United States Army Air Forces.  This was 99.4% of the total contracts.  The remaining $202,000 was for two U.S. Navy contracts.

The company's only product was the V-32 Auxiliary Power Units, for which the best known application was in the B-29 Superfortress.  The company assembled purchased components from outside suppliers to make the V-32 APU.

Table 1 - Andover Motor Company'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 - Customer Contract Number Contract Amount Contract Awarded Date Completion Date
Auxiliary Power Units - Navy XSA-76716 $114,000 9-1940 12-1940
Electrical Equipment - USAAF 535-AC-26292 $11,282,000 2-1942 8-1943
Engine Parts - Navy 288-S-7398 $88,000 9-1942 1-1943
Elec Power Plant - USAAF 535-AC-26292S $21,262,000 6-1944 4-1946
Total   $32,746,000    


The B-29 Superfortress four-engine long range bomber was the most advanced aircraft of World War Two.  The Andover Motor Company was the only supplier of the B-29 auxiliary power units.  Author's photo from the Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson, AZ


The New England Air Museum in Windsor Locks, CT built a special display hangar for its B-29 named "Jack's Hack."  Author's photo.


Author's photo.


This Andover Motors APU Model V-32 is part of the "Jack's Hack's" display.  All B-29s had APUs like this one installed for engine starts and running some equipment when the engines were not running.  Once the engine-powered generators came online after the engines were started, the APU was turned off.  Author's photo. 


Author's photo.


Interestingly, the contract number listed on the data plate is for the Fairchild Engine and Airplane Corporation of Farmingdale, NY.  Its Ranger engine was used in the APU.  This was contract 33038-AC-2767 awarded in May 1944 and completed in July 1945 for $11,924,000.  The Andover Motor Company's contracts for assembling the APUs were 535-AC-26292 and 535-AC-26292S (Supplemental) totaling $32,544,000.  Author's photo.


The V-32 weighed 135 lbs and supplied enough power to light 25 1945-era homes.  It should be noted that the electrical requirements for a 1945-era house was not nearly what a house currently requires.  Author's photo. 


The Andover Motors Company also built 110 V-32 APUs for the B-32 Dominator. 

Andover Motor Company Plant:  Andover Motors Company was located at 999 South Main Street in Elmira, NY.  Google Maps satellite view below gives this address as the location of this building on the north end of the former Remington-Rand Complex, as shown below.  Remington-Rand leased this section of its factory to Andover Motors for the duration of World War Two.


This view shows that the factory has five angled roof sections. 


This photo looking north west shows the former Remington-Rand complex on the left end of the photo.  At the right end of the complex is the section of factory with the five angled sections of roof.  In the far right of the photo is the Elmira High School.


This Google Maps street view shows that the plant now has an address of 1051 South Main Street and has space available for rent.  The factory is in very good condition for its age.  As is normal for older factories, the windows have been bricked over and the entire structure repainted.  It is good to see how this former factory for both Andover Motors and Remington-Rand has been well maintained by the new owners of the facility.   

 

 

 

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