As World War II raged, White Motor Co. was doing its part on the homefront. In the factory at 842 E. 79th St., workers assembled an array of military vehicles. Even while the assembly line continued to churn out trucks, the M3 Half-track began rolling off the line in May.
Part truck and part tank, the personnel carrier weighed 10 tons and was built to transport a crew of 13 and a mounted .30-caliber machine gun into battle. Heavy-duty tires, manufactured by Akron-based B.F. Goodrich Co., were mounted on the front half, with tracks on the rear.
“Substantial truck orders were received from the French, British and United States governments during the year,” White Motor Co. president Robert F. Black said in a March 1941 earnings report on the 1940 fiscal year. The war effort made 1940 a banner year at White Motor Co., which saw an 11-year high in both profit and revenue. By July 1941, the company’s defense orders would total around $58 million.
But the postwar years were slow-rolling ruin for the company. Despite increases in sales through the 1960s, poor management and a failed merger in 1970 left it in deep debt. The company folded in 1985.