Willow Run Bomber Plant
Ford Motor Company (historic), Ypsilanti Township, Michigan
Ford built the Willow Run plant near Ypsilanti from 1940 to 1942 to mass-produce the B-24 Liberator bomber, turning out 6,972 of them. After the war Kaiser-Frazer made cars there and GM made Hydra-Matic transmissions until 2010. The site now hosts the American Center for Mobility, and the Yankee Air Museum occupies part of the original bomber plant.
- Company
- Ford Motor Company (historic)
- Status
- Closed
- Opened
- 1942
- Employees
- Not stated
- Industry
- Aerospace and defense
- Revised
- November 12, 2026
What is made here
Built B-24 Liberator heavy bombers for World War II; later made cars and GM Hydra-Matic transmissions.
Facts
| B-24 assembly | A Library of Congress Office of War Information photograph (1942-1943) shows one of two final assembly lines for B-24E Liberator bombers at Ford's Willow Run plant (federal: loc.gov) |
|---|---|
| Bombers built | Ford built 6,972 of the 18,482 B-24s produced and supplied kits for 1,893 more; at peak in 1944 a Liberator left the line about every 63 minutes (reference: en.wikipedia.org) |
| Postwar | Kaiser-Frazer built about 739,000 cars there from 1947 to 1953; GM then ran it as Willow Run Transmission until 2010 (reference: en.wikipedia.org) |
| Today | The site is leased to the American Center for Mobility, and the Yankee Air Museum has occupied part of the bomber plant since 2014 (reference: en.wikipedia.org) |
Figures are as stated by the source named next to each one. Company figures are the company's own claims.
Can you visit?
Yes: Ford Rouge Factory Tour has hours, booking and age rules checked on the operator's site.
Sources
- Library of Congress: B-24E assembly line, Willow Run (OWI photo) (federal, checked November 12, 2026)
- Wikipedia: Willow Run (reference, checked November 12, 2026)
Something changed? Send a correction with a link and we'll recheck it.