Quote:
Originally Posted by Pete Geither
The Bantam was built right here in Butler Pa, and when WWII started, they were one of the manufacturers who were chosen to come up with a utility vehicle for the Army. The Jeep was born here, but they couldn't meet demand, so the contract went elsewhere. This is where it all started though.
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I thought Bantam was an Ohio company. There was a PBS show about the making of the Jeep a little while ago, I thought that's what they said. Anyway, turns out most of the innovations for the Jeep were Bantam's, but the contract allowed the army to show the designs to anyone, so Willys and Ford were able to copy from the Bantam.