Rearview Mirror: A history of automakers building things other than cars

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In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, we’re going to need a lot of medical supplies. Having temporarily shuttered their factories, some automakers might just start making those instead.

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It’ll be quite a leap from making cars, but for most, it isn’t the first time items other than vehicles have gone down the assembly line.

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In the past, the non-automobiles they built were primarily military supplies, and during the Second World War, automakers in Canada and the U.S. were ordered to stop making cars and switch over.

It goes a long way back. Long before cars were invented, now-defunct automaker Studebaker was founded as a wagon maker in 1852. A decade later, it was contracted to build military wagons for the Union Army in the Civil War — technically making it the first automaker to go into war production.

Automakers weren’t forced to switch their focus during the First World War like they would be in the next one, but many fulfilled government contracts while still building vehicles. These were important assignments: other than Ford, which was churning out hundreds of thousands of its Model T, most companies were building fewer than 100,000 cars a year. War contracts gave them revenue to grow.

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Armies still relied heavily on horses, but were starting to use motorized trucks and ambulances. Auto companies also made guns and ammunition, boats and marine engines, and aircraft engines.

That last item led directly to an all-new auto company. Engineer Henry Leland had founded Cadillac in 1902; he sold it to GM in 1909 but stayed on to run it. He wanted to make engines for the war, but GM chief William Durant said no. Leland left and created a new company to build them. When the war ended, his aviation engine business did also, so he devoted the factory to a new car he developed and called Lincoln. He would later sell that company to Henry Ford.

The Second World War hit Canadian production first. Canada was part of the Commonwealth and had to support Britain, and it quickly added war materials. Chrysler, Ford, and GM mostly supplied trucks. Some were modified from civilian vehicles, while others were army-specific units known as CMP, for Canadian Military Pattern, vehicles. Overall, the three would produce more than 815,000 vehicles for Canadian and British military units.

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Initially, non-auto industries made most of the munitions. Among others, bicycle manufacturer CCM made gun components; appliance company Inglis made shells and Bren machine guns; and Canadian Pacific’s facilities made tanks and self-propelled guns.

The U.S. didn’t enter the war until it was attacked at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Within two months, the government shut down all civilian vehicle production and issued contracts for military supplies. As men went overseas, women filled their jobs in the factories.

Non-essential driving was banned in many states, and gasoline was rationed. It wasn’t to save gas but to save tires, since rubber was needed for war supplies and almost all natural rubber came from countries controlled by enemy forces. Desperate for a substitute, the U.S. government got tire companies, petrochemical firms, and research labs to join forces. They came up with synthetic rubber, which today is the primary ingredient in tires.

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The U.S. Army reached out to 135 automakers to design a light scout car. Only two came up with anything: independent automakers Willys-Overland, based in Ohio; and American Bantam, a tiny and struggling company in Pennsylvania. Bantam’s design was selected, and it became the Jeep. The company was so small it could only produce 3,000 copies, and Willys and Ford were also contracted to build the vehicles. Willys ended up trademarking the name and would produce civilian versions of it after the war, and through various corporate sales and mergers, it became the Jeep brand we know today.

The largest automakers had several plants and could devote them to numerous products. General Motors made aircraft engines, tanks, cannons, and guns, among other items. Chrysler’s list included marine engines, boats, land mine detectors, and ammunition. Studebaker made 6×6 military trucks; Graham-Paige built amphibious vehicles; and Packard made boats and shells.

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In addition to building everything from tanks to tires, Ford took 975 hectares of land it owned and built what was said to be the world’s largest war factory. Partly financed by the government and named Willow Run, it built B-24 bombers.

Ford only used it for war planes, and afterwards sold it to independent automaker Kaiser-Fraser, which used it to build cars. GM later bought it to replace a burned-down transmission factory, and kept it until it closed in 2010 due to the company’s bankruptcy. Much of it was demolished in 2014. The remaining portions became an aircraft museum and a research facility for autonomous vehicles.

Auto production restarted shortly after the war ended in 1945, building cars that were essentially 1942 models with trim changes. Demand was high but raw materials were still in short supply, and automakers initially couldn’t make enough. Many buyers paid far more than sticker price to get a new car. It was a tough recovery, but the automakers proved they could do what it took to handle a war.