|
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collection of historical documents including the "1943 Year Book" by the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.
|