Bantam American history began in Great Britain by Herbert Austin, an engineer and creator of the tool itself is made. While working as the manager of Wolseley Tool and Motor Car Company, Austin felt he could make himself a better car and the Austin Motor Company was founded in 1905 outside of Birmingham, England.
The early days of Herbert Austin company contracted to the beginning of military vehicles of World War I, and Austin was knighted for his efforts. After the war, the company continued production car based on one model, supported by a, 20-horsepower 3.6-liter engine. Sales of Sir Herbert moved slowly that a single model into the commercial version, and well built tractor with the same chassis. With sales still low, the company faced bankruptcy.In 1922, Austin introduced a car that he felt sure would change his company, the car was a named "Austin 7". The new car is intended to penetrate the mass market with a smaller, lighter, well built and economical. The "7" represents the engine horse power rating putting it in the micro-car class now and avoid higher taxes.
Austin 7 has been an instant success, not only in the United Kingdom, but also in what the motor car export markets difficult time, North America. Austin license moving from part of the operation to the United States in 1929, established a factory to produce Americanization Austin 7 in Butler, Pennsylvania. As production began, the company claims to have close to 200,000 orders for new cars ultra-light, ultra-economical. Sir William Lyons used the Austin 7 chassis to build your own car, "Swallow" which gave him the knowledge and benefits to form a Jaguar in 1935.Austin American sold quite well, but the deepening Depression, and resistance to small cars, bringing the Austin American into bankruptcy in 1934. An American salesman for Austin, Roy Evans, the Austin American bought bankrupt, the name to the American Bantam in 1935, but no money left to build cars. Not until 1938 that the first Bantam "60 passenger cars' and trucks start rolling from the production line.
Evans bodynya updated and put in new engines to avoid having to pay royalties back to Austin. Bantam engine improvements include replacing the main bearings for the type of Babbitt, increasing by 7.0 to 1 compression, and use different types of carburetors. Full-pressure lubrication work, along with a pump circulating cooling system. 13-19 increased horsepower, with an increase in torque.However, the Bantam can not make significant market penetration despite the U.S. in 1938, Bantam was on par with Chrysler, Buick, and Mercury as far as quality, reliability, and promise not worry. With five new models were added to the line in 1939, prospects seemed bright. In the following two years and one-half, the company produces approximately 6,700 cars and trucks, but the average loss of $ 75 per vehicle.
In 1941, the Company develops Bantam Bantam Reconnaissance Car Car, a prototype of the Jeep, in response to the U.S. Army demand for military vehicles all purposes. It was rigorously tested by the Army for several weeks, and then found to exceed expectations, but the government decided that the American Bantam Company factory was too small to produce the required number of vehicles and give the contract to Willys and Ford.In May 1943 the Fair Trade Commission charged Willys with false and misleading advertising by stating that it has created a Willys Jeep. The court determined that the Jeep was fostered and developed in Butler, Pennsylvania, by the American Bantam Car Company.
Evans sold the company in 1946, but the factory buildings that still exist today. The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission placed a historic roadside marker on Hansen Avenue in Butler, commemorating the development of the Bantam Reconnaissance Car, Jeep "."
