American Bantam thoughts

Kinja'd!!! "HammerheadFistpunch" (hammerheadfistpunch)
06/28/2016 at 17:14 • Filed to: None

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The Jeep story was kinda sad. Bantam created a badass little scout in response to the military call for a specific vehicle, they were the only ones to meet the deadlines and specs (most of them anyway). Then the government said it was their design and gave it to Ford and Willys-Overland who then magically created their own products based on that design. It was a different time and Bantam chose not to fight that particular injustice...Probably due to patriotism, but also helped by the fact that they didn’t stand a chance. 2nd rounds come and go and Bantam improved their design. In the end all 3 (willys overland/ford/bantam) won but Bantam only produced a paltry sum and eventually the best parts of each went into a single model built by Willys (and then Ford). In the end its called the Willys Jeep, even though Bantam really did the lions share of the engineering.

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Their car was also the coolest thing ever and the inspiration for Donald Duck’s car.

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DISCUSSION (6)


Kinja'd!!! Brian McKay > HammerheadFistpunch
06/28/2016 at 17:26

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Car trunk was featured in an episode or two of American Pickers television show.


Kinja'd!!! Die-Trying > HammerheadFistpunch
06/28/2016 at 18:18

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pictures dont do the bantams justice...... they are such small cars


Kinja'd!!! HammerheadFistpunch > Die-Trying
06/28/2016 at 18:19

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I know and I want one now! So freaking neat.


Kinja'd!!! Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > HammerheadFistpunch
06/28/2016 at 18:29

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Their car was a re-skinned Austin 7.

But the Jeep, the Jeep was all them.


Kinja'd!!! Die-Trying > HammerheadFistpunch
06/28/2016 at 18:37

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the first time that i had seen one at a car show, i thought it was just a whole lot of work tied up in it, and didnt realize, that it was........factory made.

2/3 scale almost.

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could almost build one out of the back half of a 4 door, with the front 2 just cut out...... narrowing on the other hand....... that takes more work.


Kinja'd!!! Haase > HammerheadFistpunch
06/29/2016 at 12:12

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These cars are hugely popular for nostalgic drag racing. My friend runs this one in the NDRL. 7.00 class.