In recognition of that milestone, the Detroit-based automaker is highlighting parts of the brand’s famed history, including its brief stint as a tank producer during World War II.
In February 1942, the last civilian car left a Buick facility before full attention was placed on engineering and producing aircraft engines, ammunition and the M18 tank destroyer, better known as the Hellcat.
The Hellcat, which weighed about 20 tons, was designed to be one of fastest tanks on the battlefield and was capable of traveling upwards of 60 mph. Its power came from a nine-cylinder, 450-horsepower radial-type aircraft engine paired with a three-speed Hydramatic transmission.
“The Hellcat was considered the hot rod of World War II,” said Bill Gross, a historian who restored an M18 now on display at the Sloan Museum in Flint. “To give perspective, most German tanks of the day were capable of just 20 mph and even today’s M1 Abrams tank is outpaced by the Hellcat.”
Today is the 68th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day, also known as V-E Day, to mark the date when the World War II allies formally accepted the unconditional surrender of the armed forces of Nazi Germany. It also marks the Hellcat's 70th anniversary.
The M18 and Hellcat logo originated in the design studio of Harley Earl, whose team also worked extensively on early camouflage paint.
The logo, flanked by the words “Seek, Strike, Destroy,” depicts a wildcat biting down on crushed treads, signifying the Hellcat’s mission of targeting enemy tanks.
Buick engineers brought the Hellcat to life from the design team’s sketches and developed an innovative torsion bar suspension that provided a steady ride, according to GM.
Production of the M18 Hellcat began in mid-1943 and ended in October 1944. The project was so secretive that a story about the “new” tank destroyer ran in newspapers just a month before production ended.
In addition to 2,507 M18 tank destroyers, Buick factory workers produced nearly 20,000 power-trains, a half-million cartridge cases, 9.7 million 20-mm shells, and a number of other war goods during WWII. Source: mlive.com
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