# How long did Detroit auto makers shut down during WWII? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 3, 2014, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-detroit-auto-makers-shut-down-during-wwii/697324 "2014-09-03T02:15:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-detroit-auto-makers-shut-down-during-wwii/697324/1 "2014-09-03T02:15:39Z")
I imagine they converted to war manufacturing, but when did the auto companies stop making commercial vehicles during World War II? And for how long? ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-detroit-auto-makers-shut-down-during-wwii/697324/2 "2014-09-03T02:38:24Z")
> **[Automotive industry in the United States](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automotive_industry_in_the_United_States#Great_Depression_and_World_War_II)** > > Employment > In the United States, the automotive industry began in the 1890s and, as a result of the size of the domestic market and the use of mass production, rapidly evolved into the largest in the world. The United States was the first country in the world to have a mass market for vehicle production and sales and is a pioneer of the automotive industry and mass market production process. During the 20th century, global competitors emerged, especially in the second half of the century pr... > [@](#): > > When the U.S. entered World War II, all domestic passenger automobile production ceased by February 1942. The industry received $10 billion in war-related orders by that month, compared to $4 billion before the attack on Pearl Harbor. All factories were enlarged and converted, many new ones such as Ford’s Willow Run and Chrysler’s Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant were built, and hundreds of thousands more workers were hired to produce war material such as armaments, aircraft, and military vehicles. Experts anticipated that Detroit would learn advanced engineering methods from the aviation industry that would result in great improvements for postwar civilian automobiles.[11] These factories produced an astonishing amount of material, including 5.9 million weapons, 2.8 million tanks and trucks, and 27,000 aircraft. This production was a major factor in the victory of the allies. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-detroit-auto-makers-shut-down-during-wwii/697324/3 "2014-09-03T03:37:03Z")
every industry that wasn’t making essential goods went into war production either in the same industry or what ever that factory could produce. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-detroit-auto-makers-shut-down-during-wwii/697324/4 "2014-09-03T03:39:57Z")
Ford continued to make a few 1941 models into 1942. They produced no civilian cars through the war, and restarted with a 1946 model, which was virtually identical to the 1941-2. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-detroit-auto-makers-shut-down-during-wwii/697324/5 "2014-09-03T07:24:26Z")
Well,except for Dusenberg - which was seized by the Federal Government due to the Dusenberg brothers being German nationals. Of couse, the Federal Government locked up everything nice and tight, so the Dusenbergs could resume production after the war. Yes, and the Toothy Fairy, and Santa are humping at this very instant! That factory was picked clean, and the Dusenberg never returned. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-detroit-auto-makers-shut-down-during-wwii/697324/6 "2014-09-03T07:53:09Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > Well,except for Dusenberg - which was seized by the Federal Government due to the Dusenberg brothers being German nationals. > Of couse, the Federal Government locked up everything nice and tight, so the Dusenbergs could resume production after the war. > Yes, and the Toothy Fairy, and Santa are humping at this very instant! > That factory was picked clean, and the Dusenberg never returned. The Duesenberg brother were born in Germany, but emigrated to the US at the ages of 5 and 8 years old. They founded their motor company in 1913, but it struggled financially and in 1926 they sold it to Auburn Automobile (founded and owned by the American-born E.L. Cord). Thereafter they were employees of the corporation, not owners. Thus, by the time the US entered the war, Duesenberg was a wholly US-owned business. Or would have been, had it not in fact ceased production in 1937, when Auburn Automobile itself collapsed. It was the Depression that did for Duesenberg, not the war or wartime expropriation.