Willow Run began as a Ford Motor Company factory started in April 1941 and designed by industrial architect Albert Kahn as one of the largest manufacturing plants under one roof in the world. Completed in early 1942 after America entered World War II, it became a major part of the "Arsenal of Democracy," producing 8685 B-24 Liberator bombers and employing as many as 42,000 men and women. After the war, the newly formed Kaiser-Frazer Corporation occupied the plant in an unsuccessful effort to build a large-scale automotive empire, manufacturing the first of 739,039 passenger cars there as well as military aircraft, before transferring its diminishing operations in 1953 to Toledo, Ohio, and Argentina. Originally the name of a small stream, Willow Run later identified the bomber factory, airport, and community that grew up around this wartime industry. From September 1953, after a fire destroyed General Motors' Hydra-matic Division facilities in Livonia on August 12, the division's operations were moved to Willow Run, where transmissions were again coming off a totally retooled and rearranged assembly line within twelve weeks. Continuing to make transmissions, the plant also produced military hardware during the Korean and Vietnam conflicts, reflecting the versatility of the auto industry in both war and peace.