Car Companies Make More than Just Cars

Do you remember sitting in grade school and listening to your teacher all day long? Wasn’t it odd when you saw your teacher out at the grocery store, or driving their car down the road? As a youngster you might have thought your teacher lived at the school and was only there to teach when in reality they have a full life outside of the classroom. Well, the same is true for car companies. The automobile industry is a great platform for manufacturers to make their money, but many of these companies have also been part of many other products on the market that we enjoy, let’s look at a few.

HondaJet HA-420 – Honda is not a surprising company to build jets, they seem to have their hands in just about everything. This automaker enters the US market as a motorcycle company fist and has built generators, lawnmowers and a variety of powersports equipment. The HondaJet actually makes 435 mph as a cruising speed and uses two engines while also possessing the ability to carry as many as six people inside the jet. This is an area of the world that even Honda didn’t expect to explore, but it appears they make a very nice jet.

Chrysler Boats – This is actually a normal pairing, many car companies have made boat engines as well and the luxury automakers are well-known for doing this. Most companies have not thought of building the entire boat though but Chrysler did. Form 1965 until 1980 when divestiture was required there were several boats made with the Chrysler name on them. The company even made a full line of sailboats that were made to compete in races and be some of the most impressive floating vessels to challenge the oceans and lakes of the world.

GM EMD FT 103 Demonstrator – In the early 1920s and in to the 1930s GM Research chief Charles Kettering convinced the company to buy up engine businesses as he searched for the engine he wanted for his yacht. By doing this GM was able to begin creating train engines and took on a test run that was expected to offer trains that needed fewer laborers and maintenance while also costing half as much as steam to operate. These trains were used during World War II as well at no cost to the railroads for GM which made for partnership for both industries during the war that was mutually beneficial.

Peugeot Pepper Mill – Peugeot is a family business that began in 1810, well before cars were manufactured. This family business began by making coffee grinders and pepper mills and this was their main business after 1840. These mills were well known and considered to be the world’s standard during the time. This pepper mill business is still in operation today and is still a part of the Peugeot family business. You can actually buy these pepper mills at places close to you such as Target stores across the country.

BMW Bobsled – A car company that creates some of the most athletic vehicles on the road is certainly capable of entering other sports arenas, but a bobsled doesn’t make direct sense because there is no engine. Not to worry though, BMW has created an extremely fast bobsled for the USA Olympic bobsled team. This particular sled replaced the design that has lasted for twenty years and is made of carbon fiber to make it lighter and faster. Something without wheels or an engine from a company that deals almost exclusively in wheeled machines almost seems like madness.

Chrysler Rockets – We have all heard of the Saturn rockets that were able to project the Apollo astronauts to the moon but did you know that Chrysler was the lead contractor on the project? Not only did they build these rockets they also built the Redstone missiles that were used for the Mercury astronauts to be able to orbit the Earth. What Chrysler added to the Saturn was the build of Stage One of the three stage system. While all three domestic automakers contributed to the space program Chrysler had the largest part over the longest period of time.

Hyundai Container Ships – Even though we are familiar with Hyundai as a car company this is only a small part of what Hyundai actually does. They make construction equipment, electronics, department stores, and is also the largest shipbuilding operation in the world. They have built massive container ships for years and have been contracted by CSCL shipping to build five ships that can carry 19,000 containers. These ships need a crew of 31 people and they are 56 feet tall with an engine that has 93,496 horsepower. Imagine that kind of horsepower in an Elantra, that car would absolutely fly, but in this ship it moves the boat at 22 knots.

Buick M-18 Hellcat – The original hellcat was a Buick design and wasn’t a car. Instead this was a light armored tank that was powered by a nine-cylinder engine that was at first made for an airplane. This tank was fast and agile as it could make 55 mph and was used in Europe and in the Pacific. This tank carried a 76 mm gun to push back the enemy. Buick built more than 2,500 of these tanks for the military to win the battles fought.