Evening journal., 1914-07-23
WILLYS TO HAVE
LARGEST AUTO PLANT
Overland Plant, When Com
pleted, Will Have Sixty
Acres Of Floor Space

Extensive enlargements now in
the course of construction at the
Willys-Overland Company, Toledo,
Will make that factory the largest in
the world devoted exclusively to the
manufacture of automobiles. The
cnlargements will add more than a
million feet Of available working
space to the enormous plant.
When completed. the factory will
consist OF GA buildings. containing an
aggregate OF more than 60 acres of
floor space. It will be more than
one-fourth again as large as any
other motor car factory in the world.
The phenomenal increase in Overland
business has forced a corresponding
growth in the size Of the factory. The
production Of 10000 cars in a single
season crowded the plant to the ut
most A greater amount of space
has been rendered necessary to make
loom for the manufacture of the
new Overland six-cylinder car, which
viii be ready for delivery to pur-
Chasers in the early fall, and by a
further increase in production.
Since the Toledo factory was pur-
chased, in 1909. by John NJ. WHY'S.
there has never been a time when
less than half a million dollars worth
of construction was in progress.
Among the new additions is a single
building which has a greater area
than that of the entire original Tole-
do plant. It is a structure 410 feet
wide and 500 feet long, consisting
OF four stories and a basement The
building is constructed entirely of
reinforced concrete erected on a
foundation of concrete piling. The
basement will be used for storage.
while the remainder of the space will
he used for body building, upholster-
ing, painting, assembling and ma
chine shops. Construction has al
ready been completed as far as the
third floor The entire building will
be ready for occupancy in a short
time
Another large building, which will
be devoted entirely to building coupes
end open bodies, is 400 feet in length
and 200 feet wide. It's two stories
and basement have been completed
and all the new machinery has been
installed. Like the majority of the
new buildings of the Willys-Overland
factory, this structure Is OF rein
forced concrete, with large exterior
areas Of glass, allowing the maximum
amount Of light during the day.
At the rear of the new body plant
is an enormous drying kiln. 236 feet
long and 144 feet wide, with a capa-
city for handling 1860 feet Of one
foot lumber in a work day Of "a
hours. The ten separate kilns which
make up the unit plant are kept sup
piled by means Of an ingenious sys-
TEN Of tracks, which facilitates the
handling of lumber.
A new power plant, 162 by 1874 feet
IS being built of structural steel faced
with brick Power will be furnished
by four McNaul water-tube boilers.
each Of which is capable Of develop
ing 500 horsepower The huge
chimney is 205 feet and 3 inches high.
measuring is 1-2 feet across the base.
with a diameter of II IL feet at the
top The plant will heat the new
additions to the factory. and supply
steam for the drying kilns and the
powerful hammers Of the drop-forge
shops.
A two-story addition to the black
smith shop will contain 1000 square
feet. There is also under construc-
tion a tunnel under the railway tracks
near the shipping platforms. which
viii enable mechanics to take care to
and from the testing oval without
crossing the tracks. When completed
the WillysOverland factory will con-
tain the very latest facilities for
manufacturing automobiles and their
parts known to the mechanical world
Many new machines aud labor-saving
devices are being designed and eree-
ted TO handle the great production
OF the plant