Evening star., 1941-02-27
Progress Reported
In Auto Industry's
Defense Production
Plane Sub-Assembly Units
Being Shipped; Tools
Delivered on Schedule
Bs the Associated Press.

Bs the Associated Press.
DETROIT, Feb. 27.-The automo-
bile industry has begun shipment Of
subassembly units for airplanes.
Machines designed and built for
automobile forgings are ramming
out shell blanks.
Plants for the production of more
aviation engines and other machines
Of war are being speeded to compile
ton in Detroit, Dearborn, South
Bend, Chicago, Indianapolis and
other points.
Machine tools required by the
thousands are being delivered on
schedule to plants nearest compile
| ton.
These are few excerpts from a
summarization Of the motorcar in
dustry's progress on defense work,
compiled by the Automobile Manu-
facturers' Association and made
public today The review carries a
preface by Alvan Macauley, presi-
dent of the association, in which de-
fense work Is described as the auto
AiOOAAC liouoCl . llulllDCl OllC JOD'
Fight Against Time.
"All along the line" Mr.. Macauley
said, "the Job has been, and is, a
fight against time"
The progress report said Packard
will be ready by early summer to
start production on the first of 5000
Rolls-Royce aircraft engines it is
to build for the United States and
Great Britain. Six hundred men al
ready are at work building trial en-
gines.
The new Ford aviation engine
plant will be ready next month with
production to start in the spring |
and reach volume proportions in |
August.
Chrysler, the survey says, will start |
rolling out 25-ton Army tanks by |
early fall, well ahead of schedule. |
One-third Of the quarter mile long |
tank arsenal already Is occupied.
other points emphasized in the |
review are:
General Motors Allison Division, |
which produced $50 aircraft engines |
this month, is aiming at 1000 a
month.
Torpedo Boats at 10 Week.
Packard marine engines are going |
into the Nays torpedo boats at the |
rate of 10 week; production soon
will be stepped up to IS weekly; al
most the entire production of Gen.
eral Motors Diesel engine plant at |
Cleveland has been converted to
making propulsion machines for
United States fleets"
Automobile forge plants, ma
Ginning departments and stamping |
plants in Detroit, Lansing, Saginaw,
Toledo and other points are tackling |
production of shells of many types, |
shell castings, fuses and percussion |
caps, an dothers are busy on parts |
for big guns and designing sample |
weapons for the Army.
Hudson Motor Car Co. Is building
S13,000,000 arsenal for production |
of gun and torpedo parts and am
munition components for the Navy |
and already Is making bomb COM
ponents. Elsewhere in the industry |
four plants are far along in con-
version or construction for early |
production of late model machine |
guns.
Many Other Jobs Under Way.
The automobile industry's produc-
tion lines are rolling off $4,000 Army
motor vehicles a month. This rate
will be boosted to 10000 monthly
as the Army's expansion calls for
them.
There are many other defense
jobs under way in the automobile |
industry, the survey says, explain
ing that some are surrounded by
military secrecy, some are still in
the experimental stage and others
deal with the production of acces-
sories and components of major
machines.
And indicating how elaborate an
accessory" can be, it is pointed |
out that the carburetor for a mod
ern aircraft engine is more costly |
to produce than many a complete
automobile; more difficult to design |
than was the entire Liberty engine
Of World War days.
The survey says that by the latter |
part of 1941 at least 10000 men |
will be working on the automobile |
industry's defense jobs-and for
virtually all of them the work will