Apart from turning pre-war car production into military vehicle production, the British motor industry significantly contributed to wartime production via the ‘Shadow Factory Scheme’ whereby the motor industry ‘shadowed’ other companies in building their products. Motor manufacturers throughout the United Kingdom built large numbers of tanks, aircraft engines, complete aircraft and a variety of other wartime components.

This research study, which is submitted for possible inclusion in ICOHTEC’s eighth symposium on the social history of military technology, looks at the achievements and the legacy of the partnership between the government, the motor industry and the labour force during the Second World War.

The research is part of an upcoming exhibition, about the wartime achievements by the British motor industry at Coventry Transport Museum.

Apart from the wartime achievements, I will look at the legacy of the following topics on the post-war motor industry:

Much of the evidence is archival material from the National Archives, London, archive material held by the main transport museums in the United Kingdom and published primary sources.