Welcome to your #HistoryLunchBreak! Today we’re diving into the story of the Butler-born jeep. #MuseumFromHome
Just prior to our nation’s participation in World War II, the United States Army was in search of a motorized vehicle that would replace the horse. In 1940, the U.S. Quartermaster General issued a request for proposals to 135 car makers in America.
The big car companies laughed off the 49-day deadline for the production of a prototype vehicle that would weigh less than 2,000 pounds, climb a 30-degree grade, pull a cannon, and go anywhere a horse could go.
Only one company met the Army’s deadline and requirements: the tiny American Bantam Car Company in Butler, Pa.
After working day and night to meet the 49-day deadline, the jeep was born – cobbled together with equal measures of spare parts, ingenuity, and “can-do” spirit.
Bantam was the only company to meet the Army’s deadline and on July 25, 1940, was officially awarded a contract for 70 vehicles.
The Bantam Reconnaissance Cars were deployed to military installations across the U.S. for further testing and became known as “jeeps.”
Though no one knows with certainty where this name comes from, historians have speculated that it derived from “GP,” for General Purpose vehicles, while others believe it was named for Eugene the Jeep, a magical creature popularized in Popeye cartoons.
Over the next year, Bantam worked hard to produce jeeps. But by 1941, the government feared that little Bantam could not meet wartime production demands and turned to Willys-Overland and the Ford Motor Company for nearly 700,000 vehicles.
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