The Budd Company was a 20th-century metal fabricator, a major supplier of body components to the automobile industry, and a manufacturer of stainless steel passenger rail cars,[2] airframes, missile and space vehicles, and various defense products.

[5][6] Budd Company jointly founded, and from 1926 to 1936, held an interest in The Pressed Steel Company of Great Britain Limited (Cowley, England), which built bodies for Morris Motors and others, and Ambi-Budd (Germany), which supplied Adler, Audi, BMW, NAG and Wanderer; and earned royalties from Bliss (who built bodies for Citroën and Ford of Britain).

[7] The Pontiac Fiero has some exterior SMC body parts manufactured by Budd Plastics – such as quarter panels, roof skin, headlamp covers, and trunk lids.

[citation needed] From the 1930s until 1987, the Budd Company was a leading manufacturer of stainless steel streamlined passenger rolling stock for a number of railroads; many of these were known, at least colloquially, as "silverliners".

With the first of the new commuter cars in service on the Burlington, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway also approached Budd to improve their rolling stock.

With the two Hi-Level prototypes in service proving to not only meet the needs of line but also being popular with passengers, the Santa Fe again approached Budd with the idea of building additional two-level cars.

Since 1951, two formations of six Budd cars operated by Ferrobaires have run a weekly service called "El Marplatense" from Buenos Aires to the ocean-side city of Mar del Plata in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina; they were originally built for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway.

Budd-patented processes and designs were also used in Brazil (by Mafersa), France, and Belgium after World War II to construct SNCF electric-powered multiple-unit cars, push-pull suburban trainsets, Wagons-Lits [CIWL] sleeping cars and even SNCF Class CC 40100, a small class of four-current six-axle high speed electric locomotives for Trans Europ Express service between Paris, Brussels, and Amsterdam and SNCB class 56 EMU.

Mafersa continued to manufacture cars based on Budd designs, building 38 for Virginia Railway Express between 1990 and 1992, some now at Shore Line East.

Budd's extensive research into the use of stainless steel carries on today in consulting businesses like Bay Rail.

When re-designed and outfitted with electrical propulsion and end cabs as EMU coaches, six were purchased by the Pennsylvania Railroad for medium-distance use in its electrified territory.

Some rail enthusiasts nicknamed the cars "Almond Joys" because the four hump-shaped ventilators on the roof evoked the candy bar's shape.

[13] Industrial historian Jonathan Feldman has concluded that Budd, along with other "old-line" suppliers of subway cars, "lacked advanced systems-integration know-how and the skills required to manage complex electrical systems and electronics.

"[14] In 1930, the company made its first foray into the aviation industry by signing contracts to manufacture aircraft wheels and stainless steel wing ribs.

Enea Bossi joined the company as the head of stainless steel research to supervise the design and construction of a four-seat biplane amphibian aircraft, the Budd BB-1 Pioneer.

[16] Built under Restricted License NR749,[17] its design utilized concepts developed for the Savoia-Marchetti S-56 and was powered by a single 210 horsepower (160 kW) Kinner C-5 five-cylinder radial engine.

[20][21] During World War II, Budd designed and built the RB-1 Conestoga transport airplane for the United States Navy using stainless steel in many places instead of aluminum.

[citation needed] In 1965, Budd designed and manufactured a front disc brake system for some Chrysler, Imperial, and full-size Plymouth and Dodge automobiles from 1966 to 1968.

They also built the New York City Subway R32 (1964–1965), the first PATCO Speedline cars (1968–1969) and the Long Island Rail Road/Metro-North Railroad M-1/M-3 (1968–1973,1984–1986).

The Baltimore Metro and Miami Metrorail cars (1983) were built by Budd and marketed as Universal Transit Vehicles; a similar set of cars (known as the Breda A650) were built by Breda for the Red and Purple lines of the Los Angeles Metro Rail between 1988 and 1997.

The Metroliner-based Amfleet body was recycled for use in the SPV-2000, a modernized diesel passenger car which was very problematic, as it had only four buyers: (Amtrak, ONCF, Metro-North and Connecticut Department of Transportation) and was prematurely retired within 15 years.

Nonetheless, on April 3, 1987, Budd ended all railcar production at its Red Lion plant in Philadelphia and sold its rail designs to Bombardier Transportation.

The Indiana Transportation Museum maintains a fleet of fourteen closed-window Budd coaches built for the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe.

Bedford Depot, situated at the northwestern end of the Minuteman Bikeway (formerly the Lexington Branch of the Boston & Maine railroad), has a restored Rail Diesel Car (#6211).

The Mark Twain Zephyr trainset is preserved at the Wisconsin Great Northern Railroad, undergoing restoration to operating condition.

There are several Budd coaches, combines, and buffet-diner cars running in the Buenos Aires-Mar del Plata corridor.

Currently the train runs with one combine, three coaches, and a buffet-diner car, pulled by either an EMD GT22 or an English Electric locomotive.

In 1939, the Budd company designed and fabricated the stainless steel skin for the blades of the Smith–Putnam wind turbine, the largest in the world for forty years.