Bantam Jeep Prototype, 1940
date: label: date made
content: 1940
name: label: maker
content: American Bantam Car Company
notes: label: Description
content: In 1940, the American Bantam Car Company of Butler, Pennsylvania constructed 62 quarter-ton, four-wheel-drive trucks. This is one of the prototypes of the famous army vehicle known as the Jeep. During World War II, when the army was looking for a vehicle to replace the motorcycle as a mechanized form of transportation, it came up with the Jeep. Willys-Overland Motors, the Ford Motor Company, and the Bantam firm produced jeeps in large numbers. According to one newspaper account, about 660,000 were made. Jeeps were incredibly important to the war effort and became for many a symbol of American ingenuity. The museum's Bantam, bearing serial number 1007, was number 7 of the 62. It was delivered to the Army on November 29, 1940, and transferred to the museum in 1944.
label: Location
content: Currently on loan
place: label: place made
content: United States: Pennsylvania
setName: label: See more items in
content: Military and Society: Armed Forces History, Military
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content: America on the Move
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content: Automobiles
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content: Transportation
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: United States War Department
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: TR.312822
label: catalog number
content: 312822
label: accession number
content: 167398
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Automobile, 1/4 Ton, 1940
label: Object Name
content: truck, Bantam
label: Other Terms
content: Automobile, 1/4 Ton, 1940; Road; Automobile
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 128 in x 63 in x 59 in; 325.12 cm x 160.02 cm x 149.86 cm