The White Motor Company was an American automobile, truck, bus and agricultural tractor manufacturer from 1900 until 1980.

White Diesel Engine Division in Springfield, Ohio, manufactured diesel engine generators, which powered U.S. military equipment and infrastructure, namely Army Nike and Air Force Bomarc launch complexes, and other guided missile installations and proving grounds, sections of SAGE and DEW Line stations, radars, Combat Direction Centers and other ground facilities of the U.S. aerospace defense ring, such as the Texas Towers.

[1] During the Vietnam Era, the company retained its position within the Top 100 Defense Contractors list (it ranked 87th in the Fiscal Year 1965,[2] 77th in 1967,[3] 73rd in 1968,[4] 89th in 1969[5]).

On 4 July 1905, a racing steam car named "Whistling Billy" and driven by Webb Jay set a record of 73.75 mph (118.69 km/h) on the Morris Park Racecourse.

The White steamer used unique technology, and it was vulnerable in a market that was accepting the internal combustion engine as the standard.

White Motor Company ended car production after World War I to focus exclusively on trucks.

White acquired several truck manufacturing companies during this time: Sterling (in 1951), Autocar (in 1953),[16] REO (in 1957) and Diamond T (in 1958).

White designed and (with other companies) produced the M3 Scout Car, the standard United States Army reconnaissance vehicle at the start of World War II.

[20] Starting in 1936, White produced 500 of the Model 706, specifically designed to carry passengers through seven of the major National Parks of the western US; bus tours were offered as most tourists arrived from trains before World War II.

[21] They originally operated in seven National Parks: Glacier, Grand Canyon, Mount Rainier, Rocky Mountain, Yellowstone, Yosemite, and Zion.

The Skagway Street Car Company assembled a fleet of eight buses starting in 1987, naming each bus for the location from which they were acquired.

In addition, a private operator uses two of the White 706 buses originally built for Yellowstone for Gettysburg National Battlefield tours.

[28] The bus driven by Egg Shen in the film Big Trouble in Little China into Chinatown, San Francisco is a White 706 which was later purchased by the Skagway Street Car Company.

[29] The character "Ol Jammer" from the Disney animated film Planes: Fire and Rescue is based on the White 706.

[32] During the time brothers Walter and Windsor White ran the company, it offered a library branch, a store which sold necessities at low cost, sports teams, and concerts by orchestras and jazz bands, as well as musical performances by the workers, many of whom were immigrants from Slovenia and Poland.

Black learned people's names, visited the plant frequently, and asked customers if they were happy with what they purchased.

[19] Production was somewhat limited as White did not have a lighter range (13,330 units built in 1978), leading to several attempts at linking up with various European manufacturers.

[37] By 1980, White was insolvent, filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy case 80-13361 in the Northern District of Ohio on September 4 of that year.

Volvo acquired most of the US assets of the company in 1981, while two energy-related companies based in Calgary, Alberta, Bow Valley Resource Services, and NovaCorp, an Alberta corporation, purchased the Canadian assets, including the Kelowna, British Columbia, plant, and the Western Star nameplate and product range.

[40] After acquiring IU International, Neoax sold the conglomerate's trucking and food distribution units, only keeping the waste management division.

Autocar remained a part of Volvo until 2000, when the brand was withdrawn from the market, and was subsequently sold to Grand Vehicle Works together with the Xpeditor low cab-over heavy duty product, which remains in production under the Autocar badge, the last vestige of what was once America's leading commercial vehicle producer.