This early model Jeep being driven around Bantam's Butler factory in November of 1940 was one of 70 vehicles built in 12 weeks by the company as part of its contract with the U.S. military.

It was 75 years ago today that the American Bantam Car Co. delivered its prototype Jeep vehicle to the military, and made history in the process.

The vehicle’s story stretches back to the early 20th century and the European car manufacturer Austin Motor Co.

Turning a profit in Europe, the company’s owner, Herbert Austin, decided to buy an abandoned car manufacturing plant in Butler. The problem was that Austin’s timing, 1929, couldn’t have been worse.

America was sliding quickly into the Great Depression and the company’s cars, which were modeled after Austin’s European offerings and smaller in size, struggled to sell. By 1933 the American Austin Car Co. was bankrupt.

It was a former Austin worker — a salesman named Roy Evans — who saw opportunity in that failure.

Evans bought Austin’s Butler assets for $10,000, a fraction of their value, rebranded the company as the American Bantam Car Co. and reworked the vehicle design to look more modern.

But that vehicle didn’t sell either, and the company was soon in a familiar position. Facing bankruptcy, Evans hired Charles “Harry” Payne to pursue a government contract, and again found success amid failure.

The United States military was looking to develop a light-weight vehicle that would be classed as heavier than a sidecar motorcycle and lighter than a half-ton truck.

Payne met with government officials the same day they publicly discussed the need for the vehicle. Although the military had previously tested Bantam’s vehicle in the 1930s and found it lacking power, Payne convinced officials that the company could satisfy the Army.

By mid-June of 1940 military leaders were visiting Bantam in Butler, but a late twist — the government’s decision to put the project out for bid — caught the company by surprise.

Bantam brought in engineer Karl Probst, who created a bid package in two days while the company fudged the vehicle’s weight by nearly 600 pounds and battled with Willys-Overland over construction time. Willys-Overland claimed it could build the government a vehicle in 75 days, but Bantam promised its work would be done in 49 and won the contract.

The stakes for Bantam couldn’t have been higher. If it failed to complete the project and fulfill its bid, the company would go bankrupt.

A team of 16 people working in a small building behind the company’s factory made sure that didn’t happen, and completed the project in 47 days.

The company delivered its prototype to military officials on this day 75 years ago.

After military testing and the government’s decision to ignore the vehicle’s weight — 1,800 pounds instead of the 1,273 Bantam claimed on its application — the military accepted the project.

More than 650,000 Jeeps were eventually produced during World War II, most by Willys-Overland and Ford.