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  
   

 York-Hoover Body Corporation in World War Two
York, PA
1928-1958

This page updated 11-23-2023.

The York-Hoover Body Corporation can trace its history back to York Wagon Gear Company that began business in 1892.  Mr. Peter Keller started the company to supply York, PA's local wagon and carriage manufacturers with gears, axles, and bodies.  This was the beginning of a series of different companies that eventually became the York-Hoover Body Corporation in 1928.  Mr. Keller began his business at 700 Linden Avenue York, PA at the intersection of Linden and Belvidere Avenues.  When the original building burned down due to a fire, he rebuild his factory at the original location.


This is 700 Linden Avenue in York, PA and the location of the beginning of the York-Hoover Corporation.  This plant, while not the main York-Hoover manufacturing plant for the company during World War Two, was still in use during the war.  Image courtesy of Google Maps Image added 11-23-2023.


Henry Ford allowed early Model Ts to be equipped with bodies furnished by other companies such as the York Wagon Gear Company.  In 1917, Mr. Keller renamed his company the York Body Company to better align with the bodies the company was building for the Model T.  The 1921 Ford Model T Huckster Wagon is typical of the type of bodies York built.  This vehicle is on display at the Model T Museum in Richmond, IN.  Author's photo Image added 11-23-2023.


York also furnished station wagon and other types of bodies for the Model T.  Author's photo from the Model T Museum Image added 11-23-2023.

In 1928 the York Body Company merged with the Hoover Body Company, also of York, PA, and became the York-Hoover Body Corporation.


The York-Hoover Body Corporation won the Army-Navy "E" Award five times during World War Two.

The Corporation won the first award on November 10, 1942.  It then received the remaining awards in May 26,1943, December 4,1943, June 3, 1944, and December 9,1944.  All of the awards were initiated by the Army Signal Corps in recognition of the outstanding on-time work record the company had in supplying equipment to help win World War Two.

York-Hoover Body Corporation World War Two Products:  Table 1 shows that the company produced $5,696,000 in major contracts during the war.  $4,683,000, or 82.2% was for the Army Signal Corps.  The York-Hoover Body Corporation produced an estimated 2,531 van/truck bodies for the war effort

During the war, York-Hoover employed 300 persons, building various bodies for the military.  The prototype plus the first 70 production jeeps that American Bantam Car Company built had York-Hoover bodies.  York-Hoover, due to other commitments, could not make any more bodies for the American Bantam-built Jeeps.  They did, however, produce ambulance bodies, fire apparatus, trailers, and truck bodies for the Signal-Corps such as the K-38 cable splicing trailer and the K53 van body.

Table 1 - York-Hoover Body 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, Requirements and Progress Branch January 21, 1946.  Table added 11-23-2023. 

Product Contract Number* Contract Amount Contract Awarded Completion Date
Truck Bodies - Army Signal Corps   $644,000 3-1942 11-1942
Bodies Truck - Army Signal Corps   $176,000 8-1942 2-1944
Bodies Truck - Army Signal Corps   $129,000 12-1942 6-1943
Bodies Truck - Army Signal Corps   $421,000 3-1943 5-1944
 Shelters - Army Signal Corps   $182,000 4-1943 12-1943
 Shelters Mobile - Army Signal Corps   $590,000 5-1943 12-1943
Mobile Shelters - Army Signal Corps   $140,000 8-1943 12-1943
Van Bodies K53 - Army Signal Corps 28004-SC-95 $697,000 9-1943 6-1944
Shelters H027 - Army Signal Corps   $192,000 11-1943 10-1944
Shelters H017 - Army Signal Corps   $86,000 1-1944 3-1944
Surgical Truck Bodies - Army Ordnance 36034-ORD-2398 $494,000 5-1944 2-1945
Shelters H017 - Army Signal Corps   $281,000 8-1944 1-1945
Medical Lab Trucks - Army Medical Corps 30084-MD-5202 $68,000 9-1944 1-1945
Semitrailers - Army Ordnance 36034-ORD-3764 $79,000 10-1944 2-1945
Shelters H017A - Army Signal Corps   $405,000 1-1945 6-1945
Repair Trucks - Navy   $372,000 1-1945 9-1945
Hardware - Army Signal Corps   $59,000 2-1945 4-1945
Shelters H017A - Army Signal Corps   $258,000 2-1945 6-1945
Shelters H017A - Army Signal Corps   $192,000 3-1945 9-1945
Shelters H017A - Army Signal Corps   $231,000 4-1945 11-1945
Total   $5,696,000    

*as needed.

Table 2 - York-Hoover Body Corporation's Major World War Two Contracts by Customer - Table added 11-23-2023.
Customer  Contract Value Number of Contracts Percentage
Army Signal Corps

$4,683,000

16 82.2%
Army Ordnance $573,000 2 10%
Navy $372,000 1 6.5%
Army Medical Corps $68,000 1 1.2%
Total $5,696,000 20 ~100%

 

Table 3 - York-Hoover Body Corporation's Major World War Two Signal Corps Contracts by Product Type - Table Table added 11-23-2023.

Product Type

 Contract Value Number of Contracts Percentage
Various Shelters $2,557,000 10 54.6%
Truck and Van Bodies $2,067,000 5 44.1%
Hardware $59,000 1 1.3%
Total Signal Corps Contracts $4,683,000 16 ~100%

54.6% of the company's contracts with the Signal Corps is for various types of shelters, yet it is unknown exactly what a shelter actually was.  They were given the designations of H027, H017, and H017A.  However, there is no current evidence as to what these actually were.  They could have been the officer's trailers as shown below.
 

Table 4 - York-Hoover Body Corporation's World War Two Vehicles 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.  Table added 11-23-2023.
Type Contract Number 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 Total
Trailer, Closed, Pole Type 36034-ORD-502         46   46
Truck, 2-1/2-Ton, 6x6 Van, Medical 36034-ORD-2398         386 90 476


Table 4 shows that York-Hoover built 476 medical surgical vans for mounting on the GMC 1-1/2-ton 6x6 truck chassis.  From the information in Table 1 and Table 4, it can be determined that York-Hoover built the medical vans under contract 36034-ORD-2398 at a cost of $1,038 each.  Image added 11-23-2023.


Table 1 shows that York-Hoover built the K-53 van for the Signal Corps under contract 28004-SC-95 for $697,000.  Using the value of $1,038 that was calculated at the cost of the medical vans, and applying this cost to $697,000, it can be estimated that York-Hoover built approximately 670 K-53 vans.  Image added 11-23-2023.


Image added 11-23-2023.

The first four contracts in Table 1 were for truck bodies. When added together, they give a total dollar amount of $1,370,000.  Dividing this value by the estimated unit cost of $1,038 gives an estimated number of truck bodies of 1,320.  These could have been K-53s, K-60s, or another type of truck body or van.

The Army Medical Department ordered $68,000 worth of Medical Laboratory Trucks under contract 30084-MD-5202.  Once more, using $1,038 as an average cost of the attached van, York-Hoover produced an estimated 65.

Table 5 - York-Hoover Body Corporation's World War Estimated Number of Truck Bodies and Vans - Table added 11-23-2023.
Product Type Number Built Method
Surgical Truck Bodies 476 Accepted Vehicles by Army Ordnance - Confirmed Number
 K-53 Vans 670 Estimated
Truck Bodies - K-53s, K-60s, or other 1,320 Estimated
Medical Laboratory Trucks 65 Estimated
Total 2,531  


This World War Two era photo shows a typical van/truck body.  Image added 11-23-2023.


This page from tech manual 9-8200 shows that the company produced the K-38 cable splicing trailer.  However, there is no record in the Major
Contract listing or other document to indicate the number built. 


This 1942 York-Hoover Officer's Trailer is on display at the Sam Werner Military Museum in Monteagle, TN.  This trailer and the one shown below may be what the Signal Corps referred to as a "shelter."  There is no documentation to verify this.  Author's photo.


Author's photo.


Author's photo.


This and the next two photos are of a restoration project on a York-Hoover trailer by Mr. George Reinke.  The data plate indicates that it is a 1942 -R-T-140, and appears to be some sort of communications trailer.  Mr. Reinke is looking for any assistance in the further identification and purpose of this trailer.  Photo provided by George Reinke. 


Note the six white porcelain insulators on the side of the trailer.  The trailer is 7.5 feet long and is divided into two sections.  The front portion that can be seen through the window appears to be a radio operator's compartment.   Photo provided by George Reinke. 


If you have any information that can be helpful in identifying this trailer, please email me at the email address at the bottom of this page.  Photo provided by George Reinke. 

York-Hoover Body Corporation Factories:


700 Linden Avenue in York, PA is the original location of the York Wagon Gear Company that in 1928 became the York-Hoover Body Corporation.  This was the main manufacturing plant until 1940 when a new one was built at the intersection of Elm and Albemarle Streets in York, PA.  Image courtesy of Google Maps added 11-23-2023.


This building is shown as 700 Linden Avenue.  Image courtesy of Google Maps added 11-23-2023.


This image was taken at the intersection of Linden and North Belvedere Avenues.  The former factory has been converted to lofts.  Image courtesy of Google Maps added 11-23-2023.


The tall two story building was added after the original factory as the brick is a different color.  Image courtesy of Google Maps added 11-23-2023.


This addition along Linden Avenue is also of more recent construction due to the use of tan colored bricks.  Image courtesy of Google Maps added 11-23-2023.


In 1940, a new plant was built at the intersection of Elm and South Albemarle Streets.  It is unknown whether the company occupied only the building that is now occupied by TC Warehousing or also the one that is now the Haas Architectural Millwork.  This location was the main plant during World War Two.  Image courtesy of Google Maps added 11-23-2023.


This image is the northeast corner of the complex and shows the railroad that ran north of the plant.  Image courtesy of Google Maps added 11-23-2023.


This image is looking northwest from the intersection of Elm and South Albemarle Streets.  Image courtesy of Google Maps added 11-23-2023.


This is the west end of the TC Warehousing building, and may had also been the west end of the York-Hoover Body plant.  Image courtesy of Google Maps added 11-23-2023.


This is the east end of the current Haas Architectural Millwork plant.  It may or may not have been part of the York-Hoover factory complex.  Image courtesy of Google Maps added 11-23-2023.


This is the west end of the Haas Architectural Millwork plant along Elm Street.  Image courtesy of Google Maps added 11-23-2023.


This image shows the railroad track that is north of the factory complex from the northwest corner of the complex.  Image courtesy of Google Maps added 11-23-2023.


 

 

 

Email us at:  Webmaster