On January 1, 1942, all sales of American cars were frozen by the government’s Office of Production Management as auto plants began swiftly converting to military-only production of arms, munitions, trucks, tanks and planes.
In April 1942 the Automotive Council for War Production was formed to facilitate the sharing of resources, expertise, and manpower in defense production contracting.
By December 1942, Detroit had become the “Arsenal of Democracy” and didn’t resume civilian production of automobiles until the war ended in 1945.
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