National Automotive Collection reveals creative metal fabrication projects from World War II

While serving at the U.S. Army 8th Air Force bomber station in England during World War II, some US servicemen fabricated the "jeep of the future" with some scrap sheet metal. (Photo courtesy of the National Automotive Collection)

Imagine you’re on the other side of the ocean, in a different country without any family. You’re an engineer or a mechanic. And when you’re not patching up planes or rebuilding engines, you need an outlet for your creativity and skill.

Now close your eyes and imagine a place with metal fabrication tools like welders, grinders, hand tools, nuts/bolts, and a seemingly infinite pile of scrap metal from aircraft and army trucks that are beyond repair.

What would you fabricate?

While digging into the National Automotive Collection archives at Detroit Public Library’s Skillman Branch, I found these incredible photos from World War II.

Some gentlemen decided to build the “jeep of the future” while serving at a U.S. Army bomber station in England.

According to the archives:

“This is the before-and-after of how a plain, garden-variety U.S. Army jeep was transformed into the ‘jeep of the future’ by men of an ordnance motor repair outfit at a US Army 8th Air Force bomber station in England. Working for six weeks in their spare time, the men produced their streamlined version of the peacetime jeep using only salvaged material taken from crashed-up jeeps and junk piles.”

How rad is this?

Some stuff looks like it was pulled from another vehicle, like the front fenders, for example. I wish I had more documentation of the build. Maybe someone out there is familiar with it? It’s not half bad looking and they pretty much completely reconstructed the sheet metal.

Then we go to sea. And what I found was super cool: “Hudson’s Craft.”

It was filed in the “amphibious vehicles” folder – a total chance discovery.

This was written on the back of the photograph from US Army Air Forces, Wash. DC:

“In Italy, Pfc Eric H Staples, 32, Sanford, ME, of the U.S. Army 15th Air Force (right) is making a test run in the boat built by Sgt. Donald E. Hudson, 21, DeKalb, IL, who is operating the controls. Hudson's craft is powered by an air compressor motor he scrounged in a salvage yard. The passenger compartments are two gasoline tanks from a P-38 Lightning fighter plane. Kicking up a white wake is a Hudson-built propeller made from scrap metal. Both men are ordnance workers in the 464th Liberator Bomb Group.”

Donald Hudson (left) and Eric Staples test "Hudson's Craft" while serving for the U.S. Army in Italy during World War II. Hudson fabricated the "amphibious vehicle" with scrap sheet metal. (Photo courtesy of the National Automotive Collection)