Key players in the creation of the Jeep meet with American Bantam Car Co. employees. around the first model in 1940. In the driver’s seat is Harold Crist with Frank Fenn, president of Bantam, next to him, engineer Carl Probst is on the far left. Butler County Historical Society photo
The US military was sold on the vehicle’s versatility
In Butler’s West End, behind the doors of AK Steel, sits a tan brick building that is home to one of the world’s most popular vehicles.
Amazingly, in the early 1900s, Butler was home to several automobile manufacturers, including the American Austin Car Co., which opened in 1930.
In 1932 the US Army, looking for vehicles to replace the role of horses in the military, purchased two American Austin Convertible pickup trucks. Vehicle historians consider these trucks to be the ancestors of the original Jeep.
American Austin Car Co., closed, reorganized and reopened as American Bantam Car Co. in 1935, making roadsters, coupes and trucks so small they were often lifted by hand and placed on people’s porches as a joke.
Retired Naval Commander Charles “Harry” Payne, who worked as a Bantam lobbyist and US military liaison, began discussions with the US infantry about using the small cars as the basis for a new car combat vehicle, specifically a reconnaissance vehicle.
In October 1940, Bantam had a contract to build 70 of these new vehicles for the Army Quartermaster Technical Committee, which Bantam delivered in 12 weeks.
After extensive testing, American Bantam made some changes to the vehicle, such as squaring the rounded edges and removing the fenders, and delivered the new cars within a month.
A month later, the quartermaster and the National Advisory Commission had contacted the Willys-Overland and Ford automobile companies, as well as Bantam, asking them to produce 1,500 vehicles based on the Bantam design.
Bantam completed its 1,500 cars in May 1941, but the Army awarded future Jeep contracts to Willys-Overland and Ford, a controversial move.
Some claim it was due to Bantam’s financial difficulties; others say it was because the company’s bid was too high, even though Ford’s bid was nearly the same. Although Willys underbid the other two, it did not produce these first 1,500 vehicles for the military. And it had design problems: specifically, its cars were too heavy.
Regardless of the reason, Bantam never got another contract to build the vehicle it had designed.
But Bantam wasn’t about to give up and started making trailers for military vehicles. By the end of World War II, the company had manufactured more than 2,500 Jeeps and more than 70,000 trailers, which were later made for civilian vehicles until Armco Steel bought the company in 1956.
Jeep players
The design and construction of the original Jeep was a joint effort, including these people:
- Harold Crist, an engineer who worked on developing the Jeep specifications and was the first to test the prototype vehicle. He is one of the best-known Jeep inventors.
- Frank Fenn, president of the American Bantam Car Co., who sought a military contract to help put the company on a solid financial footing, as well as help take the Jeep from a concept to an actual vehicle.
- Chet Hempfling, a Butler native and chief mechanic who helped create the gas pedal, throttle, sheet metal parts and wiring for the vehicle. He also helped service some of the Jeeps during Army testing.
- Karl Probst, an engineer who came to Butler from Toledo and made the initial drawings of the Jeep design in 18 hours, according to historical accounts.
- Ralph Turner, a Butler native who concentrated on the Jeep’s drivetrain and suspension.
After Bantam
When the war ended with an Allied victory, Willys-Overland received government permission to begin civilian production of the Jeep in 1945, said Brandt Rosenbusch, the head of Chrysler Historical Services. Chrysler is now the parent company of Jeep.
The original price of the CJ-2A was $1,241. There were 1,823 built in 1945 and a total of 214,202 in its five years of production, Rosenbusch said.
In 1947, Willys-Overland began production of Jeep trucks and later built the first all-steel body pickup truck.
“Up until that point, all vans had some body parts made of wood,” Rosenbusch said.
Kaiser Motors, formerly Kaiser-Frazer Corp., manufactured automobiles in Willow Run, Michigan from 1945 to 1953, merged with Willys-Overland to form Willys Motors, and moved its production operations to the Willys plant in Toledo , Ohio. The company changed its name to Kaiser Jeep Corp. in 1963.
In the 1970s, Kaiser exited the auto business, selling that division to American Motors Co., which continued to manufacture Jeep-branded vehicles.
Then in the 1980s, in an effort to stay afloat, AMC partnered with French car company Renault, which ended up with AMC’s majority stake, and was sold to Chrysler in 1987 .
Chrysler continues to produce Jeeps today under its Jeep division.
Sources: Butler County Tourism and Convention Bureau, Butler County Historical Society, authors Ralph Goldinger and Audrey Fetters, “Butler County, the Second Hundred Years” and Chrysler Historical Services.
The workers at American Bantam Car Co. they built 70 prototypes in 12 weeks. They also produced 1,500 vehicles in May 1941. But the contract to build more Jeeps went to Willys-Overland and Ford. Butler County Historical Society photo
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The workers at American Bantam Car Co. they built 70 prototypes in 12 weeks. They also produced 1,500 vehicles in May 1941. But the contract to build more Jeeps went to Willys-Overland and Ford. Butler County Historical Society photo
The workers at American Bantam Car Co. they built 70 prototypes in 12 weeks. They also produced 1,500 vehicles in May 1941. But the contract to build more Jeeps went to Willys-Overland and Ford. Butler County Historical Society photo
