American Car Spotters Guide - 1942

Although 1942 models had been introduced, as usual, in the late summer and autumn of the previous year, all production of civilian cars came to a halt on 9 February 1942. Production of civilian trucks halted on 3 March, the day after civilian car rationing commenced. Gasoline (petrol) rationing and a national speed limit followed, in order to conserve fuel and rubber.

On the last day of 1941 the Automotive Council for War Production had been set up with the aim of applying the facilities of the automotive industry to all-out war production. Chrysler stepped up its production of tanks, spending $40 million on plant expansion, Ford opened the Willow Run Michigan Bomber Plant in May, General Motors produced countless items of war material including Chevrolet and GMC trucks, Nash-Kelvinator produced aircraft engines, helicopters, etc.

Pontiac was the first automobile manufacturer to win the Navy 'E' Award, Chrysler's Tank Arsenal the first to win the Army-Navy 'E', which superseded it. Total value of arms produced by the automotive industry in 1942 was $4,665 million.

Crosley World War II Production

The Crosley Corporation was involved in war production planning before December 1941, and like the rest of American industry, it focused on manufacturing war-related products during the war years. The company made a variety of products, ranging from proximity fuses, radio transceivers, field kitchens, and quarter-ton trailers, to gun turrets, among other items. Powered gun turrets for PT boats and B-24 and B-29 bombers were the company's largest contract. Crosley also produced a number of experimental vehicles during the war for the U.S. government.

Crosley's auto manufacturing division, CRAD, in Richmond, Indiana, produced experimental motorcycles, tricycles, four-wheel-drive military light utility vehicles, a self-propelled gun, and continuous track vehicles, some of which were amphibious models. All of these military prototypes were powered by the 2-cylinder boxer engine that powered the original Crosley automobiles. Crosley had nearly 5,000 of the engines on hand when auto production ceased in 1942, and hoped to put them to use in war-time production of miniature vehicles.

One vehicle prototype was the 1942–1943 Crosley CT-3 "Pup," a lightweight, single-passenger, four-wheel-drive vehicle that was transportable and air-droppable from a C-47 Skytrain. Six of the 1,125-pound (510 kg), 2-cylinder Pups were deployed overseas after undergoing tests at Fort Benning, Georgia, but the project was discontinued due to several weak components. Civilian car production resumed at the Marion, Indiana, facility in 1946 with the newly designed model CC. (The Richmond, Indiana, facility had been sold during the war years.) In 1950 Crosley brought the Farm-O-Road model, a 63-inch (1.60 m) wheelbase utility vehicle, decades ahead of the John Deere Gator and other small Utility vehicles. From 1950 onwards, Crosley's main models gained roll-down instead of sliding side windows.

Crosleys were built under the Crosmobile marque for overseas export. Crosmobiles were simply badge-engineered Crosleys, and were identical to standard Crosley models except for having Crosmobile-lettered hood and rear badges and hubcaps and instrument-cluster demarcations. The purpose of differentiating the exported Crosleys was to avoid confusion or conflict with Great Britain's non-related Crossley marque. Crosmobiles not only made it to Europe, but also elsewhere, including Cuba.

Also see: 1942 Automobile Ads Published in the USA