Murray Corporation of America run from 1600 Clay Street, Detroit Michigan was, from 1925 until 1939, a major supplier of complete automobile bodies to the Ford Motor Company. Non-automotive stamped steel products were added during the

great depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

of the 1930s. Production switched to wings for wartime aircraft and other aircraft components. Postwar they moved further into stainless steel products including cabinets and kitchen sinks. Washing machines, plumbing and bathroom fixtures, cutting tools and truck engine parts followed. Their last automotive products plant was sold in 1955. By the 1960s a

Fortune 500 The ''Fortune'' 500 is an annual list compiled and published by ''Fortune'' magazine that ranks 500 of the largest United States corporations by total revenue for their respective fiscal years. The list includes publicly held companies, along ...

company Murray later passed through the ownership of Dyson Kissner-Moran to

Household International HSBC Finance Corporation is a financial services company and a subsidiary of HSBC Holdings. It is the sixth-largest issuer of MasterCard and Visa credit cards in the United States. HSBC Finance Corporation was formed from the legal entity that ...

which is now a subsidiary of

HSBC Holdings plc HSBC Holdings plc is a British multinational universal bank and financial services holding company. It is the largest bank in Europe by total assets ahead of BNP Paribas, with US$2.953 trillion as of December 2021. In 2021, HSBC had $10.8 tril ...

Automotive bodies industry consolidation

J W Murray Mfg Co had been founded in 1913 by John William Murray and his son to make stamped sheet metal part for automobiles. Their premises were in Detroit and located near what is now the Cadillac Hamtramck assembly plant. J W Murray established a second plant at

Ecorse Ecorse ( ') is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 9,512 at the 2010 census. Ecorse is part of the Downriver community within Metro Detroit. The city shares a northwestern border with the city of Detroit ...

, Michigan.Coachbuilt
/ref> Murray Body Corporation was created in 1924 by merging C R Wilson Body Co of Milwaukee Junction Detroit with three Hamtramck businesses, Murray Manufacturing, Towson and Widman. Both Wilson and Murray were long standing suppliers to Ford. Combined the businesses could build 60,000 to 70,000 bodies a year. Towson Body Co and J C Widman & Co. (Towson include the Anderson Electric Car Co) were Murray's neighbours in Hamtramck. On the merger Murray Body Corporation became, after

Fisher Fisher is an archaic term for a fisherman, revived as gender-neutral. Fisher, Fishers or The Fisher may also refer to: Places Australia *Division of Fisher, an electoral district in the Australian House of Representatives, in Queensland *Elect ...

and Briggs, the third largest body company in the United States.James M. Rubenstein. ''The Changing U.S. Auto Industry: A Geographical Analysis''. Routledhge, London and New York, 1992 A short sharp recession forced a financial reorganisation and as of January 1927 the business was moved into the ownership of Murray Corporation of America.

Custom bodywork

Raymond H Dietrich

Diversification

Conglomerate

Clarence Avery

Clarence W. Avery Clarence Willard Avery (February 15, 1882 – May 13, 1949) was an American business executive. He was considered a driving force behind Ford Motor Company's moving assembly line, and was president and chairman of auto-body supplier Murray Corpor ...

, recruited from Ford in 1927 and driving force of Murray for 20 years, is credited with introducing his industry to time-study and the moving assembly line. Avery was also well-known for dealing effectively with autoworkers grievances working in with

UAW The International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace, and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, better known as the United Auto Workers (UAW), is an American Labor unions in the United States, labor union that represents workers in the Un ...

References

American companies established in 1913 Vintage vehicles Companies based in Detroit Manufacturing companies of the United States Coachbuilders of the United States {{motorvehicle-company-stub