Club members from across the U.S. commemorate Bantam anniversary
Although there was only one Bantam Reconnaissance Car produced in Butler in 1940 for testing by the U.S. military, millions of vehicles have been produced in its likeness since then.
Clubs commemorating the Bantam and its history — the Austin Bantam Society and the Bantam Reconnaissance Car Celebration Group — are celebrating the vehicle’s 85th birthday this weekend, Sept. 20 and 21, across the nation.
The Bantam is a vehicle worth remembering, according to members of the clubs, because its design has “stood the test of time” — in that it evolved into the modern-day Jeep.
“The design, it’s just amazing they came up with it … four-wheel drive, the screen, so forth, the utility of it,” said Terry Williams, a member of both clubs who lives near Houston. “You can take the first (Bantam), take it to an elementary school around here and 8-, 9-, 10-year-old kids will call it a Jeep. It has looked like a Jeep since 1940.”
Williams, who has been to Butler several times, bought a few of the vehicles after being tipped off by people in the area, like Lee Bortmas, and has even been in the area to attend a Bantam Jeep Heritage Festival.
Williams said he has the largest collection of Bantams, and even has a re-creation of the original Bantam Reconnaissance Car, the prototype that was delivered to the U.S. Army on Sept. 23, 1940.
Williams’ attachment to the Bantam isn’t just because of his family connection — his father owned a Bantam in his teens — he said the car’s design, military history and its continued significance have made it a fascinating piece.
“We just think it’s an amazing vehicle to celebrate automotive history,” Williams said. “That’s our project, is to educate people on the significance of the Bantam Jeep, and Butler has the honor of being the place.”
The celebration group is calling for anyone who may have information, anecdotes, notes or letters, photographs, film, Bantam Reconnaissance Cars or parts of them, or personal experience with any of the participants to contact a member to share insight.
A news release from the group said anyone with a general interest or curiosity about Bantams is invited to make contact and lend a hand.
The group’s president, David Kanally, said he and the other members of the group want to not only celebrate the history of the Bantam, but continue promoting its legacy.
“Our job is to kind of get the word out to find the Bantam recon cars that are still out there and known about,” Kanally said. “Find anyone who might be seeking restoration info, that they know they have a group they can come to.”
The Bantam Reconnaissance Car was built in 49 days over the summer of 1940 by the American Bantam Car Company, a small auto manufacturer in Butler, according to the group. The car’s specifications were drawn by a Bantam engineer and representatives of the U.S. Army Quartermasters Corps to fulfill a decades-long request for a battlefield reconnaissance car that could do virtually everything, but weigh next to nothing.
After collecting seven Bantams, Williams got to restoring them. He said a man named Duncan Rolls has helped him restore the many Bantams in his personal collection to the point where they are all able to run. This did take a lot of research, crowdsourcing and even the re-creation of parts that are no longer manufactured, Williams said.
“We formed a partnership, and I provided financial support and he provided expertise in restoring them,” Williams said. “There were parts that we had to make, like manifolds and bi-wheels and air cleaners. We had to fabricate those. There were parts here and there that became available.”
In addition to the groups with national memberships, the people of Butler County celebrated the 85th birthday of the Bantam on Friday, Sept. 19, at the Bantam statue at the corner of Main and East Locust streets in Butler.
Jeff Geibel, past president of Butler Downtown, said the birthday celebration was organized to further commemorate one of Butler’s signature contributions to the world. He remarked on how advanced the original Bantam was when it rolled out of Butler and into the military’s hands.
“The original prototype, when it was produced, they only made one. It was beat up to see what it could do,” Geibel said. “No Jeep was quite like that prototype.”
The statue itself, created and donated by Bill Secunda, was commissioned by Butler Downtown to mark the city as the birthplace of the Bantam, and, ultimately, the Jeep. It was placed in the city in 2024, in part, to be another attraction for people visiting Butler for the annual Bantam Jeep Heritage Festival and the Jeep Invasion.
“If you look at license plates, they are from all over — Canada and Alaska,” Geibel said. “We realized people were coming to visit the home of the Bantam, but there was no representation or clue that the Bantam even was invented here.”
Kanally said he was last in Butler in 2015 for that year’s Bantam Jeep Heritage Festival. He said he and other members of the organizations enjoy coming to the city because a lot of people in the area are familiar with the Bantam and some even have a personal connection to the car.
“People of the greater Butler area are armed with information, so they can answer people's questions and have a sense of pride of their forefathers just a generation ago achieved in developing this landmark vehicle,” Kanally said.
Because to Kanally and Bantam collectors, the history of the car is part of the reason they are still valuable. The design is just part of the appeal.
“We have a community of people who are focused on not only the cars themselves but the story of the original Jeep,” Kanally said.
Williams is interested in the history and in the Bantam company, because his father had a Bantam car that preceded the reconnaissance vehicle. He still has his father’s old Bantam, which has been through a lot of miles and probably even more repairs.
“I got into it because my father … bought a 1935 when they were in high school,” Williams said. “When I was a small boy, 10 or 12, my dad still had the car, although a lot of the body had deteriorated and it was a tractor. I still have the engine and part of the frame and the transmission.”
