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Hart Pressed Steel of Elkhart, Ind. (at least through
1956) Hart rarely produced a complete body, but they did supply what
amounted to an infinity of pressed-steel body panels in a great variety of
shapes and sizes. Hart sold these as stock, standard, off-the-shelf items.
They'd also supply custom-tooled panels zipped off Kirksite dies, which were
great for short-run orders. They did a lot of work by stretch press - an
interesting technique for pulling out the big one-piece panels needed for
the rears of streamlined bodies or the fronts of buses. Hart represented a
Michigan stamping plant in miniature.
With Hart's catalogues in hand, a custom truck
bodybuilder needed only to leaf through, find the panels he needed, order
them, cut and shape and finish. Among Hart's customers was General Motors,
who used quite a few Hart panels in the making of its Parade of Progress
streamliners (see SIA #39).
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