The factory first opened in 1941 as the Ford Willow Run facility, which built B-24 Liberator bombers during World War II, and its original building (still preserved within the fabric of the GM Powertrain plant) was designed by noted architect Albert Kahn.

Following the war, the bomber plant was sold as surplus property to the Kaiser-Frazer Corporation, a partnership of construction and shipbuilding magnate Henry J. Kaiser and Graham-Paige executive Joseph W. Frazer.

Kaiser also produced cargo planes during the Korean War at Willow Run under license from Fairchild Aircraft, including the C-119 Flying Boxcar.

[8] In April 2013, the Detroit Free Press confirmed that the RACER Trust was negotiating with the Yankee Air Museum, which had until August 2013 to raise the funds needed to purchase a portion of the original bomber plant, which became part of what was Willow Run Transmission.

The museum would consolidate operations scattered on various parcels around Willow Run, and the trust expected to clear the remainder of the Powertrain plant for redevelopment.