"Tanks are Mighty Fine Things!": How Chrysler's Detroit Tank Arsenal Built the Tanks That Helped Win WWII

WWII was not just a war of weapons, but also a war of production. One of America’s greatest victories on this front was certainly in the city of Detroit, where auto assembly lines were transformed into an arsenal of democracy. Chrysler’s Tank Arsenal was the nation’s most spectacular war plant, a place where history was made. From it came 25,059 medium and heavy tanks of twelve different types, including the tanks that turned the tide of the war in North Africa. Commissioned by Chrysler President K.T. Keller as a “thank you” for the men and women who made a difference, “Tanks are Mighty Fine Things” was published in 1946 and written by Wesley Stout, the former editor of the Saturday Evening Post. It features rare photographs of the Arsenal and the Sherman, Grant, Pershing and other tanks and armored vehicles it produced.