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  
   

 Muncie Gear Works in World War Two
Muncie, IN
1910-1993

This page added 12-26-2020.

Sometimes I find an unexpected World War Two product built by a small, local company that I didn't even know existed.  In this case, it is a marine transmission built by the Muncie Gear Works in nearby Muncie, IN.  The transmission was found on a Gray Marine/Detroit Diesel 64HN/6-71 marine engine that was used in the most of the small landing craft of World War Two.  The Muncie Gear Works transmission and Gray/Detroit Diesel engine were found in the back lot of the Indiana Military Museum in Vincennes, IN in February 2020.  There is a very good chance I walked by these items five months earlier, in September 2019, when I was at the museum.  In any case, I was completely surprised to find the transmission there, built by a company in Muncie that I had never heard of.

The Muncie Gear Works was founded in 1910.  The company's first president was Harry Warner who renamed the company after purchasing the assets of  failing auto parts company in Muncie.  While the first products were transmissions and clutches for the auto industry, in the last years before the company went out of business in the 1993, it was more well known for its marine outboard motor business, which was the last product line built by the company.  It's outboard motors were marketed by both Sears and Roebuck and Montgomery Wards.

Muncie Gear Works World War One Products:  One product the company made during the First World War was 1,000 transmissions for the Class B Liberty Truck.


Muncie gear is listed in the lower left-hand corner of the document.  Document courtesy of Warren Richardson added 12-26-2020.


In 2015 this World War One Liberty truck chassis and drive train were undergoing restoration at the First Division Museum in Wheaton, IL.  This restoration is not specifically associated with any of the fifteen companies that built the Liberty truck because the parts are from various sources.  The transmission can be seen behind the engine.  Author's photo added 12-26-2020.


This vehicle has been restored to operating condition and is driven around the First Division Museum complex on special occasions.  Author's photo added 12-26-2020. 

Muncie Gear Works World War Two Products:  Marine transmissions for 36-foot wooden landing craft, 37mm anti-tank gun carriages, aircraft parts and rocket parts


This Muncie Gear Works-built transmission is attached to the rear of the Gray/Detroit Diesel engine.  Both are sitting on a single axle trailer in the field behind the Indiana Military Museum.  The trailer is located amongst a group of military trucks.  Author's photo.


Author's photo.
Author's photo.


Author's photo.


Author's photo.


Author's photo.


Author's photo.


The Muncie Gear Works transmission would have been used in several types of 36-foot long landing craft.  This is an LCP(L) which is on display at the National Museum of World War Two in New Orleans, LA.  Author's photo.


The most famous of the landing craft is the LCVP, or Higgins boat.  This is one of a couple of verified World War Two LCVPs that still exist today.  It was built by Higgins Industries in 1944.  It is owned by several private collectors in Ohio.  Author's photo.


Muncie Gear Works built 37mm gun carriages like this one photographed at the Georgia Veterans State Park in Cordele, GA.  Author's photo.


Historical sources give the location of the former Muncie Gear Works as north of the intersection of Wysor and North Vine Streets in Muncie, IN.  This photo is taken from the parking lot area to the east of this factory building at this location.  The parking lot is for those wanting to visit the historical train depot at this location, or to park and use the Cardinal Greenway that runs along the railroad tracks in the area.  Shown here is the east side of the former factory of the Muncie Gear Works. The east side looks to be the former office area of the company.  Today the former plant is occupied by a roofing company.  This location is 14.6 miles from where I currently live.  Author's photo.


This is along part of the south side of the old factory.  Author's photo.


This 1952 Sanborn map shows Muncie Gear Works as it was then.  The photo below shows the plant is still the same.  In 1952 the former train station east of the main plant was the drafting room department for the company. 


Looking at a Google Maps satellite image of the plant, it looks like there was a railroad spur line that ran along the south side of the building.
 

This is the southwest section of the plant.  Author's photo.
This is the west side of the plant.  Author's photo.


This is the north side of the plant, along the Cardinal Greenway.  The depot is in the background and the railroad tracks on the left.  Author's photo.


Author's photo.


This is east end of the plant area with the Greenway along the right.  Author's photo.

 

 

 

 

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