Despite over 50 years having passed, many people are
still able to recognise a WW2 jeep, most referring to it simply
as a 'Willys'. It is likely that they therefore also believe that
the ubiquitous jeep with its unmistakable grille must have been
conceived, designed and built by Willys Overland but the reality
is somewhat different. It actually owes its existence to the
American Bantam Car Company and the genius of Karl K Probst. The
story goes like this:
In 1930 Austin of England founded the American Austin
Car Company in the United States. Unfortunately, economical
little cars never proved popular there and by 1934 the company
was almost bankrupt. It was taken over by its Chairman, Roy
Evans, who re-launched it as the American Bantam Car Company. He
retained the small car concept based on the original Austin
design but made improvements and increased the range of models
available.
As early as 1938 Bantam had spotted the potential of a
light reconnaissance vehicle for military use and lent the
National Guard three of its Austin based Roadsters to evaluate.
The company continued to press the case for such a vehicle until
a meeting with the Military was finally arranged at the Bantam
factory on June 19th 1940. Worried by the mobility and ease with
which the German Army had taken France and intelligence reports
that the Germans were about to convert the Volkswagen for
military use, they at last showed a real interest in Bantam's
proposal.
A series of meetings developed Bantam's original car
based proposal into a military specification for a 4 x 4 hybrid
car / truck type vehicle weighing not more than 590kg. Aware of
Bantam's limited design and production facilities and the fact
that the company was not financially sound it was decided to
offer other manufacturers the opportunity to tender as well. The
overall task was to design and submit 70 finished vehicles for
evaluation (including 8 with 4 x 4 ). A prototype had to be
delivered within 49 days, the rest within 75 days. The rather
unrealistic weight limit resulted in no interest being shown by
traditional truck manufacturers like Dodge or GMC and initially
only Bantam and Willys responded to be joined later by Ford in
submitting designs and prototype vehicles for evaluation.
 |
| Bantam
GPV prototype delivered on time in September 1940
|
Bantam persuaded Karl Probst, a freelance
engineer, to head their project and when the drawings for the
tenders were examined by the Military on July 22, Probst's
vehicle came closest to matching the specification though Bantam
did conceal the fact that their vehicle was likely to be a little
over the weight limit. An order was placed and by the end of
September Probst had completed the drawings, sourced the parts
and the Bantam prototype was delivered. Having tested it to
destruction and being satisfied with its performance, the army
commissioned 70 more to be built. Despite Willys failing to
submit a prototype by the deadline and Ford showing little
interest in the project at all at this time, both manufacturers
were allowed access to the trials of the Bantam prototype and
subsequently to Probst's drawings. Willys and Ford prototype
models, the Quad and the Pygmy, were to follow in that order but
clearly outside both the time and weight limits.
Trials continued into the Winter of 1940 and should
have resulted in an outright winner. The Bantam GPV (General
Purpose Vehicle) had been delivered on time and met the
specification in most respects. It performed well bearing in mind
the nature of prototypes and minor defects were soon corrected.
It also had many recognisable features of the later standardised
jeep. However, the Military identified strengths and weaknesses
in each vehicle. The Bantam was considered too high off the
ground and under powered. The Willys Quad had a more powerful
engine but was far too heavy. The Ford Pygmy had the best
steering (though linkages were easily damaged) but its tractor
engine had insufficient power.
There was also concern about Bantam’s limited
production capability and that even Willys Overland might not
cope given the imminent need for a very large number of these
vehicles. All of this resulted in a political decision in March
1941 that all three companies would receive an initial order for
1500 vehicles each, provided that they met the original
specification though the permitted weight had now been increased.
 |
|
1941
trials from left to right: Bantam, Willys MA and the Ford
GP |
Vehicles that looked remarkably similar during the
trials became even more alike as each company adapted their
design and copied the better ideas from each other or from
Probst's plans ready for the first production runs. However, in
July 1941 the military decided that standardisation was needed,
it being impractical to operate and maintain three different
designs. All three vehicles now performed well but it was decided
that the Willys design represented the best overall value for
money at $739 (compared with $1166 for a Bantam) and it was
adopted as the standard army vehicle.Willys secured the contract
to provide the next 16,000 vehicles.
In awarding Willys the contract, the army produced a
list of improvements and alterations that were required. Apart
from general improvements to the battery, generator, air filter
and fuel tank, the standard jeep was now to have blackout lights,
sealed beam headlights, pioneer tools (axe and shovel), double
bow canvas tilt, trailer socket, centre dash handbrake control
and radio suppression. The classic standard jeep design was about
to emerge.
The 40 BRC (the production
version of the Bantam) was now no longer required by the US Army
as it was 'non-standard'. The Bantams already in service with the
army together with the continued output from the factory were
passed to the British and Russian armies under the terms of the
Lend-Lease Act. Interestingly, having observed the trials, the
Russian Purchasing Commission wanted the Bantam by choice.
The photograph (opposite) shows a typical British
marked Bantam 40 BRC in the colours of the 6th Armoured Division
complete with .303 Bren gun mount on the passenger side. The
vehicle's light weight also made it particularly suited for use
by British airborne units in North Africa.
By the end of October 1941 the army were keen to find
a second source of supply for two reasons;Willys could no longer
keep up with the growing demand for jeeps and there was the need
to safeguard the supply of jeeps against the Willys plant being
bombed or sabotaged.
In early November Ford were
awarded their first contract to build 15,000 jeeps to the Willys
design specification from Willys drawings. The Willys MB and Ford
GPW varied in minor detail only as the Military insisted that the
parts be interchangeable. With the increased supply it was now
possible to supply the standard MB/GPW vehicles under Lend-Lease
arrangements and production of the Bantam 40 BRC was phased out.
Interestingly, it was Ford who designed the pressed radiator
grille to replace the heavier and more costly slat grille of the
early Willys MA design. Willys then incorporated this into their
definitive MB model.
In all,
2675 Bantam 40 BRC vehicles were built, 62 of which had
four-wheel steer as requested by the US Cavalry (photo right).
Sadly, the company never again produced vehicles. Having been
first to suggest and build a 'jeep', Bantam was made to share
Probst's plans with competitors then lost out in securing any
work under contracts for the universal jeep and spent the rest of
the war building trailers, aircraft parts and torpedo motors.
The following additional information on four-wheel
steer Bantams was provided by Kevin T. Graham of Elkhorn, WI:
Several years ago I went to Grand Rapids, MI to visit
a former Design Engineer from the Checker Car Co. He told my
father & me how Checker almost collaborated with Bantam to
make jeeps for the gov't. Checker actually produced three jeeps
to the BRC40 design with 4-wheel steer & Checker logo on the
dash instrument panel. Only one complete Checker jeep remains and
was observed & photographed by me at the Hickory Corners Auto
Museum in Michigan. As luck would have it the photos turned out
poorly. The old designer, Jim Stout, said he still had remnants
of a Checker in an outbuilding on his property but did not want
to show us. The Checker jeep also had a spotlight mounted on the
side of the windshield assembly.
This resulted in the following response from Bill
Spear in the U.S. who believes that these vehicles were not built
by Checker but were shipped to Kalamazoo by Bantam or possibly by
some other non QM corps Army unit in an attempt to find some
production capacity and to try to head off the railroad job going
on at the Quartermasters Corps.
The Checker story which is now just unfolding with
this car I am beginning to believe (but am not willing to be
quoted on as yet) is still another attempt by a larger company to
try to take credit for Bantam's accomplishments. Until now it has
been loudly proclaimed that Checker Motors (they built Checker
cabs and had very substantial production capacity, badly needed
by Bantam to head off the Quartermaster Corps, Ford and Willys
from stealing their product). In fact these three
"Checker" cars are Bantams built in Butler PA as far as
I can tell, or anyone else...however I am willing to stand
corrected if someone can show me anything at all done by Checker
to these cars before they were sent to the Army for testing.
(They may have disassembled and assembled them to try to figure
out a bid price...)
Bill also wrote the following which I
have decided to use as an epilogue on this page:
The thing we are all fighting is the constant
disregard for the fact that Bantam and in particular Karl Probst
did indeed develop the "jeep" and were delivering
actual product to the Army almost before Willys had even
developed an approved prototype. Moreover, the Army made the
Bantam plans available to both Willys and Ford almost as soon as
they were drawn, and in addition gave them complete access to the
actual car once a prototype was delivered (in an incredible 49
days)...I am still researching it but I think it could possibly
be shown that Bantams may be said to be the first jeeps to
actually be employed in hostile action in that many were sent to
Russia and England as part of the lend lease program (of the
three versions the Russians, who were actually fighting the
Wehrmacht chose the Bantam over the Willys and Ford!...).
Bill has an excellent site where you can find out more
about the Bantam Car Company, Bantam jeeps and the Checker jeep
saga. If you have any information to offer regarding the Bantam /
Checker connection Bill would also like to hear from you. His
e-mail address is: bill@wmspear.com
