Chevrolet - 1945 |
As if the 1930s Depression was not
enough to diminish auto production, World War II temporarily
brought it to a halt. By February of 1942, all of the
major automobile makers had their production lines shut
down as a result of a production freeze. All existing
stock of unsold cars was managed by the U.S. government
for the war effort. These cars were the leftover 1941
and 1942 models, and were rationed out on an as-needed
basis for civilian and military use.
In general, no cars were produced in 1943 or 1944. With
that said, the auto industry claims there were 139 cars
built in 1943 and 610 built in 1944. It could very well
be that they used up the existing stock of vehicles
and made more, but they were probably assembled from
spare parts left over after the assembly lines that
had shut down. Some of the 1941 and 1942 models that
were left over before the freeze were taken by the military
for staff cars, and were titled as 1943, 1944, and 1945
models. War Department document TM-9-2800 from 1943
authorized building certain light and heavy cars for
staff use, the light ones were Chevrolet, Ford, and
Plymouth, while the heavy ones were Packard and Buick.
Again, these were either leftover vehicles repainted
for military use, or built with leftover parts. Fred
Crismon's book U.S. Military Wheeled Vehicles
(Crestline Series) says that Packard was building blackout
versions of the Clipper "as late as 1943"
for the U.S. Army. Production started up again in 1945,
although these automobiles were built for the 1946 model
year. Most makes that were built were warmed over 1942
models for 1946, 1947 and 1948. For example, General
Motors first postwar redesign was their 1949 line of
automobiles.
Long before the United States entered World War II,
automobile manufacturers began devoting ever greater
amounts of production time to defense work, for export
to Britain as well as for the United States. The Chrysler
Corporation was one of the car makers most active in
defense work. As the involvement of the United States
in the war became imminent, the automobile industry
played a more important role than ever in the rearmament
of the country. By the end of the war, more than half
of all industrial production in the world would take
place in the United States. Without the massive amounts
of equipment produced by millions of men and women on
the homefront for use by the 11+% of the population
in the uniforms of the Armed Forces, the results of
the war would have been quite different.
Ford built airplane engines for the British government,
and B-24 Liberator and gliders bombers for the U.S.
Military. Ford also turned out tanks, armored cars,
jeeps and engines for robot bombs. Ford's plants in
Great Britain and Canada had joined the production efforts
of the United States and produced everything from mobile
canteens to four-wheel-drive trucks and autos, grenades,
bombs and engine-powered landing craft. At its vast
Willow Run plant in Ypsilanti, Michigan, the Ford Motor
Company performed something of a miracle 24 hours a
day. The average Ford car had some 15,000 parts. The
B-24 Liberator long-range bomber had 1,550,000. One
of the B-24s came off the line every 63 minutes.
General Motors converted all of its production to the
war effort and delivered more than $12 billion worth
of goods, ranging from airplanes to tanks, marine diesel
engines, trucks, machine guns, and shells. No other
manufacturer delivered as much material to the Allied
forces.
Chrysler made everything from fuse bomb noses, forging
/ machining shells and cartridge cases to tanks, anti-aircraft
guns, aircraft engines. They played a major role in
the B-29 bomber. They also made assorted military vehicles
such as command cars, ambulances, trucks, and weapons
carriers.
Excerpts from www.1940.org
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