Is this the same Allison that makes the heavy duty transmissions?
Sort of.
"Allison" (the man) was an original investor in the Indy 500 Speedway. Built race cars to high standards by hiring actual craftsmen. Eventually got so busy with his "shop" (which was originally on the Indy Speedway grounds) that he let the racing go, made a fortune building well-engineered machinery especially gearboxes. Had a V-12 marine engine designed for his private yacht; sold another one to someone else.
Took on contracts for the military to revamp/rebuild/re-engineer the Liberty V-12 from WWI. The Liberty V-12 was ordered in such huge numbers by the government that they were stacked like cordwood at the end of the First World War. They had hundreds if not thousands of them; the were soon obsolete--and the government hated to waste so much money (!!!) by just scrapping them.
Allison (the company) provided some significant revisions on the Liberty engine that made it much more reliable/durable. As the Liberty was finally getting phased out, Allison began developing the new V-12 for aircraft use. In fact, they had a ton of trouble with it. GM bought the company from Eddie Rickenbacher, who bought it from the banks and the estate of Allison after he died. GM invested a huge amount of money in the V-12 project because they could see WWII coming. Good thing, too. The Allison V-12 had so many problems that the US Government encouraged the Packard/Merlin deal as a "fallback" if the Allison engine couldn't get through the durability testing. The Allison did eventually become accepted. I suppose--like a lot of piston engines at the end of The Big One (WWII)--the best engineers got siphoned off to do "jet" work. Piston aircraft engines more-or-less got left behind.
Eventually, Allison as a division of GM became associated with transmissions more than engines. Now...I don't know how GM may have "reorganized" and sold-off it's former divisions. (as exemplified by Delphi vs. Delco--can't keep track of who owns what, who makes what, and who just has sales agreements for the various products made by...well...whoever is making them this week.)
Amazon.com: Vees For Victory!: The Story of the Allison V-1710 Aircraft Engine 1929-1948 (Schiffer Military History) (9780764305610): Daniel D. Whitney: Books
