When is a Jeep not a Jeep?
What does the term really mean and where does it come from?
Like most people I though a Jeep was a Jeep, I did realise that it was built under licence by different companies, but thought it had originated with Willy's and Ford, not true, the original concept came from a same company, later called Bantam.
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.
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.
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.
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.
This is the MiniArt Bantam 40BRC
