The Ford Motor Company was the
exclusive manufacturer of the “First Generation” or “small hatch” version of
the M4A3(75). 1690 units were made from June 1942 to September 1943.
There were two Ford M4A3 Production Orders:
P.O. T-3034: 350 units produced June 1942 thru January
1943 : Serial Number 2655 / USA 3055615 thru SN 3004 / USA 3055964
P.O. T-3334: 1340 units produced November 1942 thru
September 1943 : SN 11460 / USA 3053615 thru SN 12799 / USA 3054954

Ford was contracted to manufacture Medium Tanks powered by
an in house designed 500 HP V8 engine. Since the engine was new and untested,
M4A3s served as training tanks in the US, giving Ford the opportunity to "iron
out the bugs." In comparison tests, the Ford GAA engine was found to be superior
to the other tank power plants, and in June 1943, it was declared "suitable for
overseas supply." It was further decided that production of M4A3s would be
reserved for US troops, both at home and abroad. While Ford left the Sherman
program in September 1943, it continued to supply engines to Chrysler &
Fisher Body for the 1944/45 production of M4A3s and M26s. During WW II, Ford's
Lincoln plant produced 26,954 V8 tank engines (above). Most of the M4A3s that
served in combat were of the 1944/45 production "large hatch" variety, but
period photos and documents show that a small number of Ford built M4A3s fought
in the final campaigns in Northwest Europe, as well as on Okinawa.

The photo on the left shows
the M4A3 pilot, rolled out on May 13, 1942. The M3 bogies were replaced with
the M4 type about a week later, although, curiously, the rearmost units were
mounted backwards. It's apparent that the first two units were built using M4A2
hulls. Note the odd "bump" on the glacis, a feature of some early
Pullman and ALCO M4A2s. The "M4A2 angle" of the upper rear hull plate
as seen on Ford #2 in the right side photo, was steeper than on the standard
M4A3.
The
overhead view shows the non standard engine deck doors of the pilot
models. These units appear to have been the only Fords that had the M34
gun mounts in the initial configuration, where the lifting rings (arrow)
on the gun shield were mounted extremely close to the rotor shield.
Some of these "close mounted" lifting rings got damaged and bent inward
in service, which caused them to foul against the rotor shield,
disabling the elevation of the gun. Consequently, the lifting rings were
directed to be mounted further outboard. The pilots are seen without a
handle on the commander's hatch, and the handles on the drivers' hatches
are mounted towards the rear and on angle. Only the pilots are noted
with the turret lifting rings mounted in the "high" position," and
without the gunner's blade sight. The 3rd Ford featured in the following
caption incorporated the missing items, and repositioned the handles
and lifting rings to what became the standard positions.
The
four photos above show Ford # 3, the first production unit, accepted
August 1942. Note the standard engine deck configuration, and the
standard angle of the upper rear hull plate. This tank has the later,
typical Ford M34 gun mount configuration, with outboard mounted lifting
rings on the gun shield, and the protective side extensions on the rotor
shield. The side extensions were carried over when Ford transitioned to
the M34A1 gun mount in March, 1943. Ford made its own power trains, and
it is reported that, in September, 1941, a Ford executive named
Laurence Sheldrick took one look at the 3-piece differential, and had
his engineers design a one piece differential housing. Ford used the
one-piece throughout M4A3 production, and indeed, the Ordnance
Department would have immediately and completely replaced the 3-piece if
industrial conditions had permitted. On this example, part of the lower
glacis "plate" was actually a casting that included the bow machine gun
socket. Counting heads evidence suggests that the first 50 to 100 units
used variations of this, but by October 1942, Ford settled into a
standard pattern that featured a lower glacis of armor plate into which
was welded a small bow mg casting. This was the method used for
incorporating the bow mg on the single plate glacis of Second Generation
welded hull Shermans. The mg dust cover fitting was most likely
retrofitted, as these don't appear to have been factory installed until
September, 1942.
Only Chrysler (M4A4) and Ford used "wide" drivers' hoods
castings on their Shermans. Manufacturers of small hatch M4s and M4A2s made use
of "narrow" drivers' hood castings. Note how the "wide" casting included a
section of the glacis along with the driver's hood. On M4A3s and M4A4s, possibly
because of the use of wide drivers' hoods castings, the antenna bracket was
positioned very close to the edge of the glacis, whereas it was mounted further
inboard on M4s and M4A2s. The lines in red on the pictures above show the weld
patterns of the wide vs. narrow drivers hoods. Left-side photo courtesy of
Paul Hannah.
The hull antenna bracket shown in the left side photo
is typical of Ford-built M4A3s made from October, 1942 onward. The bracket shown
on the right may have been used on the first 50 to 100 units. Both castings have
the same part number - D50112. Our right side photo shows an "outlier" -
the earlier casting on a December 1942 production M4A3 (S/N 11550) on display in
Vermont. Perhaps it was a misplaced part that was used later when it was
found?
The Direct Vision slots were found to be a ballistic
weakness of the Sherman, so the drivers' hoods were redesigned to eliminate
them. The hoods were elongated in the front, where an additional periscope was
provided. Ford began to replace the old hoods in October 1942, and the
transition to the new hoods was completed a month later. In general, the
introduction of changes was "with obsolescence." As the new parts began to enter
production, the manufacturer continued to use the old parts until the
supply was exhausted. Left-side photo courtesy of Kurt Laughlin.