We Invented
The Jeep.
On September 23, 1940, American Bantam® delivered the first prototype of what the world would call the Jeep. Forty-nine days. On time. In Butler, Pennsylvania.
The Full StoryThe Founding
Born in Butler,
Pennsylvania.
The American Bantam Car Company was founded in 1935 in Butler, Pennsylvania. Roy Evans — then owner of the largest automobile dealership chain in the United States — established the company with a clear mandate: build vehicles that Americans actually need.
That vision would put American Bantam at the center of one of the most consequential moments in automotive history. Roy Evans’s descendants remain shareholders of American Bantam Car Corp. today. The history is personal. It is alive.
The First Jeep
Was an American Bantam.
“American Bantam invented the Jeep. American Bantam is building again.”
The U.S. Army gave American Bantam 49 days to design and prototype a light reconnaissance vehicle. Most thought it impossible. American Bantam delivered on time — on September 23, 1940 — with a vehicle that would go on to help determine the outcome of World War II.
The BRC-40 Reconnaissance Car became the most important utility vehicle of the twentieth century. American Bantam built every Jeep supplied to the U.S. Army in 1941. The first vehicle ever called a “Jeep” was an American Bantam. That is not a claim. It is a documented fact.
& deliver
first Jeep prototype
designation
for the U.S. Army — 1941
The Injustice
The World Remembered
Willys. We Don’t Forget.
The U.S. Army awarded the mass-production contract for the Jeep to Willys-Overland. American Bantam — the company that designed and built the original — was sidelined. The vehicle that defined an era bore someone else’s name.
“The world remembers Willys. We remember who built the first one.”
American Bantam Jeeps served in theaters across the globe during World War II. The vehicle that changed the course of the war had Bantam’s engineering in its bones — even if the credit had been reassigned. We write this as fact, not as bitterness. The record speaks for itself.
87 Years of American History.
American Bantam Car Company founded, Butler, Pennsylvania, by Roy Evans
First Jeep prototype delivered to U.S. Army — Sept. 23 — 49 days after assignment
Army production contract goes to Willys-Overland; Bantam’s design goes to war without Bantam
American Bantam Jeeps serve in theaters across the globe; the brand name largely forgotten
American Bantam Car Corp. re-established; trademark acquired
New vehicle production begins — 87 years after the original Jeep. Born in Georgia, USA.
The Revival
Eighty-Seven Years
Later. Building Again.
In 1940, American Bantam built the first Jeep for the United States Army in 49 days. Eighty-seven years later, the company that invented the Jeep is building again.
Not because it is easy. Because it is overdue. American steel. American workers. American assembly. Born in Georgia, USA — and carrying a name that earned its place in history before most of our competitors existed.
No other American automotive company can say what we can: we invented the Jeep.
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