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   Sullivan Machinery Company   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   Badger Meter Manufacturing 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 Trailer Corporation  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   Le Roi Company  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  
   

Fruehauf Trailer Company in World War Two
Detroit, MI
1918-1963
Fruehauf Corporation
1963-1989
Fruehauf Trailer Corporation - Purchased by Wabash National in 1997
1989-Present

This page added 6-20-2020. 

The seed that became the Fruehauf Trailer Company happened in 1914 when August Fruehauf was asked by a friend to build a trailer to tow a boat behind a Ford Model T.  August Fruehauf at the time was a carriage builder and blacksmith in Detroit, MI.  It remains unknown whether anyone had previously made a trailer for a boat, but August Fruehauf has been historically credited with this.  August named his new invention a "semi-trailer" that has become synonymous with the 40-foot and 52-foot semi-trailers that are now pulled by over-the-road tractors in the United States. These tractor-trailer combinations dominate the American Interstate Highways.  It all started with someone in Detroit wishing to take his boat "up north," as persons from Michigan express it, to his lake cottage.  In 1918 August Fruehauf founded the Fruehauf Trailer Company.  For many years, it was a leader in semi-trailer design and one of the largest trailer companies in the country.  Fruehauf Trailer Company was awarded over 1,000 patents, showing its leadership in semi-trailer design.

Sometimes things don't work out well.  While August created a leader in the trailer industry, the Fruehauf family lost control of the company in 1963 due to infighting.  Further incompetent management by the new ownership of this once excellent company drove it into bankruptcy in 1997, when it was purchased by Wabash National Corporation of Lafayette, IN.  Under the competent management of Wabash National, Fruehauf trailers are still being manufactured today. 

 Fruehauf Trailer Company Trailers Accepted by Detroit Ordnance, US Army
The information below comes from "Summary Report of Acceptances, Tank-Automotive Material, 1940-1945."
Published by Army Services Forces, Office, Chief of Ordnance-Detroit, Production Division, Requirements and Progress Branch
January 21, 1946.

Type 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 Totals
Dollies, 3-Ton, 2W, Trailer Converter         400   400
Semi-Trailer, 3-Ton, 2W, Van 9           9
Semi-Trailer, 6-Ton, 2W, Platform     111       111
Semi-Trailer, 6-Ton, 2W, Tank, Gas, 2000 Gal.   6         6
Semi-Trailer, 6-1/2-Ton, 2W, Pipe G662 6.5 ton pipe trailer  Yes.  Matches up 50 built       50     50
Semi-Trailer, 7-Ton, 2W, Cargo         452   452
Semi-Trailer, 7-Ton, 4W, Van, M26, Gun Data Computer for SCR-584           90 90
Semi-Trailer, 11-Ton, 2W, Van, 28-Foot Body         100   100
Semi-Trailer, 12-Ton, 2W, Low Bed   500   230     730
Semi-Trailer, 16-Ton, 4W, Van,   47 8       55
Semi-Trailer, 20-Ton, 2W, High Bed       25     25
Semi-Trailer, 40-Ton, 8W, Platform 3           3
Semi-Trailer, M15, M15A1, For Tank Recovery       376 349 379 1,104
Semi-Trailer, Tank, to be used with Tractor-Trucks       29     29
Trailer, 1/4-Ton, 2W, Cargo           975 975
Trailer, 8-Ton, Tractor Crane   66 72 134     272
Trailer, 22-Ton, 6W, Low Bed         491 331 822
Trailer, 45-Ton, 12W, M9     82 600 890 60 1,632
Totals 12 619 273 1,444 2,682 1,835 6,865

Author's Note and Disclaimer:  The Detroit Office of Ordnance of the U.S. Army was the primary purchasing entity for vehicles for the U.S. Army during WWII.  It also purchased vehicles for the USMC, US Navy, and for Lend-Lease.  However, there were other organizations that also purchased vehicles including the Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army Air Force, U.S. Army Signal Corps, Navy Bureau of Ordnance, Navy Bureau of Aeronautics, and foreign countries making direct purchases.  The U.S. Army Signal Corps


1,610 SCR-584 mobile radar anti-aircraft battery control radars were built for the U.S. Army Signal Corps during World War Two.  Fruefauf built the trailers for the SCR-584 under the jurisdiction of both the Signal Corps and Army Ordnance during 1943-1945. This example, on display at the the National Electronics Museum in Linthicum, MD has been identified as a Fruehauf trailer.  It may very well be the only example left of this type, making it the rarest of the surviving Fruehauf trailers.  The National Electronics Museum is a cool museum with several displays from World War Two not found in any other museum.  Author's photo.


This display from the National Electronic Museum shows how the SCR-584, housed in a Fruehauf trailer, was part of the total anti-aircraft weapons system.  Author's photo.


  Author's photo.


This photo shows the Chrysler-built antenna on top of the trailer and some of the electronics in the rear.  Author's photo.


The back of the trailer opened up to allow servicing of the many electronic chassis in the unit.  Author's photo.


The parabolic antenna dropped down through an opening on the roof of the trailer and was secured inside the trailer during travel.  The trailer had doors that closed up the roof to keep out the elements during travel.  Author's photo.


Two green poles with yellow marking can be seen at the back of the trailer.  These were two of the four guide rods that guided the antenna and mount as it traveled up and down on the inside of the unit.  Also visible are the cables in the back, which moved up and down with the radar antenna.  Author's photo.


Westinghouse supplied the electronics for the SCR-584.  Author's photo.


This SCR-270 mobile long-range aircraft detection radar antenna and trailer are also on display at the National Electronics Museum in Linthicum, MD.  Fruehauf built trailers for the 397 SCR-270s made during World War Two.  Author's photo.


Author's photo.


Author's photo.


Author's photo.


On display at the Museum of American Armor in New Bethpage, Long Island, NY is this M25 tank transporter, which consists of a M26A1 tractor and a M15A2 semi-trailer.  The tractor was built by Pacific Car and Foundry, and the trailer by Fruehauf Trailer Company.  Author's photo.


Fruehauf was the only supplier of the M15 series trailer.  It is probably the most famous of all of the trailers built during World War Two.  The M25 Dragon Wagon tractor and trailer have reached some what of a cult status among military vehicle enthusiasts.  Author's photo.


Author's photo.


Author's photo.


Author's photo.


Author's photo.


This trailer is Fruehauf Trailer serial number FW5945. The data plate indicates this to be a post-World War Two-built trailer.  Author's photo.


This is a M19 Heavy Tank Transporter with a Diamond T M20 and a M9 trailer.  Fruehauf Trailer built 1,632 M9 trailers during World War Two. It was Fruehauf Model CPT-45SP. It was one of four companies that built a total of 6,143 M9 trailers during the war.  Author's photo. 


 Author's photo.


 Author's photo.


The M17 trailer was part of the quad M51 weapon system used during World War Two. The M17 was one of three trailers built by Fruehauf Trailer under the G-221 classification.  Fruehauf also built the M1 searchlight trailer and the M-18 generator trailer.  Author's photo.


Author's photo.

 

 

 

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