Kansas City manufacturing might was put to very good use during World War II. The Leeds plant produced high explosive shell casings. The Winchester Plant made cylinder assemblies for Pratt & Whitney aircraft engines. And a new factory constructed for North American Aviation at the Fairfax Airport in Kansas City, Kansas, built 6,608 B-25 Mitchell twin-engined medium bombers, 2/3rds of all the ones built in WWII.

After WWII, the Fairfax Plant was acquired by General Motors for production of Buicks, Oldsmobiles and Pontiacs. For a short time in the mid-1950s, General Motors also produced 599 Republic F-84F Thunderstreaks in this facility.

1957 was a big year of changes for Kansas City auto production facilities. The GM Leeds Plant, home to both Fisher Body and Chevrolet, underwent a massive $25 million expansion, increasing from 501,670 to 978,480 square feet. Even bigger changes were in store for Ford. The Winchester Plant shut down in December of 1956, and when manufacturing resumed in January 1957, it took place at the new assembly plant in Claycomo, Missouri.

The Leeds Plant saw other changes over the years. A compact car assembly line was added for the 1960 model year. Pickup production ended in August 1962. Starting in the 1964 model year, Leeds ceased being a Chevrolet-exclusive facility and produced A-bodied mid-sized cars for a number of GM’s divisions. By the 1980s, the compact J-car was the product. In April 1988, the line halted and, despite efforts to bring on a new product, never restarted.

Fairfax 1 soldiered on making GM B-bodied full-size cars through the 1987 model year. Fairfax 2, built next door right on the old airport runway, became operational when it began building Pontiac mid-size cars for the 1988 model year. It added Oldsmobiles in the 1990s, and Saturns in the 2000s. Today it produces Chevrolet and Buick mid-size cars.

For the 1960 model year, one assembly line at Ford’s Claycomo Plant was converted for production of Ford and Mercury compact cars. In the early 2000s, it became the line for Ford, Mercury, and Mazda compact SUVs, and is being readied for production of Ford’s new full-size Transit van. The other line has always been devoted to the F-series pickup, for decades the best-selling vehicle in the country, making the Claycomo Plant, by sheer numbers built, the most productive automotive manufacturing facility in the country.

Another addition to the Kansas City area came in 1998 when Harley-Davidson Vehicle and Powertrain Operations built a 358,000 square foot facility in Platte County, close to the Kansas City International Airport. In addition to producing the traditional Sportster and Dyna-family motorcycles with 45-degree V-twin engines, Kansas City is the only Harley-Davidson plant building the VRCS V-Rod motorcycles. With a hydroformed frame and a liquid-cooled, dual overhead cam, internally counterbalanced, 60-degree V-twin engine developed jointly with Porsche Engineering, the VRSC is the platform on which Harley’s factory drag-racing motorcycles are based.

Image Top Left:
North American Aviation built 6,608 B-25s at the Fairfax Plant, 2/3rds of all the ones built WWII.

Image Middle Middle:
At the Fairfax Plant in the 1950s, alongside civilian production cars, GM also built the F84-F Thunderstreak.

Image Bottom Left:
Harley-Davidson came to Kansas City in 1998. The KC Harley Plant is the exclusive producer of the V-Rod, the radical motorcycle on which factory drag-racing bikes are based.

Image Green Area 1:
The original product of the Fairfax Plant was the B-25 Mitchell medium bomber of WWII.

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After WWII, the Fairfax Plant began building Oldsmobiles, Pontiacs, and Buicks.

Image Green Area 3:
Many classic GM vehicles were built at the Leeds Plant during its long history. Here workers attach the bumper to a 1958 Chevrolet.

Image Green Area 4:
After four years of building wing assemblies for the B-47, the Claycomo Plant began producing Fords in January of 1957.

Image Green Area 5:
The GM Fairfax 2 Plant was built right on the runway of the old Fairfax Airport.

Image Green Area 6:
Fairfax 2 opened in 1988 and has produced over ten million GM mid-size cars.