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Preface t his book grew indirectly out of my earlier work in automotive industry history, including the histories of the Chrysler Corporation, the Dodge Brothers, Nash Motors, and the Hudson Motor Car Company. In the course of my research on those automakers, I encountered several “snapshots” or “glimpses” of the contributions made by American automobile manufacturers to the astounding production of weapons and materials during World War II. Much has been written about the conversion of American civilian industry into the “arsenal of democracy,” which to a great extent enabled U.S. armed forces and those of its allies to achieve victory. This will be more of an inside view of the war effort from the perspective of the automakers than previously possible because it uses internal corporate records that have been largely ignored. What has inspired me and at the same time has driven me to write this book is a remarkable collection of records from the wartime auto industry. The auto industry trade association at the time of World War II, the Automobile Manufacturers Association (AMA), was formally established in 1934 but had roots extending back to the formation in 1900 of the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers (NAAM). On 30 December 1941, under the leadership of George Romney, theAMA reconstituted itself as the Automotive Council for War Production (ACWP), with the stated goal of coordinating auto industry war work. By the end of the conflict, the ACWP had collected an enormous amount of information about the auto industry during the war. The documentation includes many thousands of photographs taken of war products and war production in auto plants throughout the United States. In the early 1950s the AMA donated the wartime records to the National Automotive History Collection (NAHC), part of the Detroit Public Library. x prefAce I wish to thank many individuals who helped me along the way. First and foremost are the archivists and librarians who assisted my efforts with considerable skill, energy, patience, and good cheer. Paige Plant and Mark Bowden of the NAHC were extremely helpful, as was Barbara Fronczak, who processed the collection of the ACWP. Terry Hoover, chief archivist at the Benson Ford Research Center in Dearborn , Michigan, helped me navigate through the war records of the Ford Motor Company. Gregory Wallace, the director of the General Motors Heritage Center in Sterling Heights, Michigan, and Christo Datini, the center’s archivist, were also extremely helpful. David White at the Richard P. Scharchburg Archives at Kettering University in Flint, Michigan, led me to additional General Motors materials relating to war production. Andrew Beckman, archivist at the Studebaker National Museum in South Bend, Indiana, helped me with Studebaker Corporation materials . Randy Talbot, Command Historian at the U.S. Army Tank Automotive Command (TACOM) in Warren, Michigan, made TACOM’s historical records available to me. Special thanks to three friends and colleagues for their assistance and encouragement . Tom Geniusz made his extensive World War II library available to me. Mike Davis, the author of an earlier pictorial history of the arsenal of democracy and a good friend, made his extensive library and photographic collection available for my use and encouraged me to move forward with this book. Larry D. Lankton, longtime colleague and friend, shared with me his research files compiled quite a few years ago, when he planned to write a book similar to this one. In addition, Buick historian Larry Gustin and Leroy D. Cole shared some of their private research files relating to General Motors with me. Two anonymous readers who reviewed the manuscript for the Wayne State University Press made this book better, and many others have encouraged me to complete this book. Of course, any errors that remain are my sole responsibility. ...

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