Author, fascinated by Jeeps, shares expertise
Paul Bruno doesn’t own a Jeep. In fact, he’s never owned one.
But he just might know more about the origin story of the fabled four-by-four than anyone around.
The Henderson, Nev., resident is the author of two books – one published in 2014 and the second in 2020 – that focus on the early history of the iconic vehicle, whose roots can be traced to Butler’s American Bantam Car Co. in the early 1940s.
Bruno, who was raised outside of Albany, N.Y., in the town of Colonie, never resided in Butler, but became so fascinated by the history of the Jeep that it drew him here 20 years ago to pitch his idea for a movie on the subject.
Although his screenplay hasn’t found a taker yet, he likes to think that his pitch made such an impression on Butler officials that they decided they had something worth celebrating. Hence the creation and annual celebration known as the Bantam Jeep Heritage Festival.
The 11th renewal of the festival will take place Friday through Sunday at Coopers Lake Campground, and the 61-year-old Bruno will do three presentations in the Jeep History Exhibit – 2 p.m. Friday, 11 a.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.
Bruno took a circuitous route to exploring the history of the Jeep. He obtained a business degree and later an MBA, then went back for a computer science degree after landing a position in the technology industry. But his interest in history sent him back to the classroom, where he earned a master’s degree in history. That, and his expertise in project management, steered him toward the topic that he’s spent the last 20 years researching and writing about.
While he’s interested in many facets of the Jeep, it’s the vehicle’s early history – a period that he defines as starting at the end of World War I and ending just prior to America’s entry into World War II – that specifically hooked him.
And it was how the Jeep came to be that sent him into overdrive in terms of researching – and ultimately writing – the backstory.
What makes it so fascinating?
“No. 1, it’s the Bantam story,” Bruno said, referring to the Butler-based American Bantam Car Co., which developed and produced the first Jeep. “It’s literally the greatest underdog story in American history. Here you have this car company in Butler that’s bankrupt — no staff, no resources, no anything, and they go out and interest the Army to build a revolutionary vehicle.”
That was to be a multipurpose reconnaissance vehicle that would essentially replace the mule and motorcycle sidecar. With the war in Europe already exploding and America’s involvement likely just a matter of time, the U.S. Army needed this vehicle — and fast.
“Then through a whole series of miraculous events, Bantam wins the contract to build the new vehicle,” Bruno said. “But they have to deliver it in 49 days, which was considered impossible – and which is why I think it would make a great movie.”
And that’s not all of it. The American Bantam Car Co. did indeed meet the deadline, delivering the prototype 30 minutes before the deadline. But unlike many Hollywood movies there wasn’t a happy ending for the plucky local company, as the Army chose Willys-Overland to actually supply the vehicles. Then, after realizing it needed more of them than one vendor could provide, it added Ford as a second source, and American Bantam was left on the outside looking in.
That’s just the quick version of the story, however; Bruno covers it in far greater detail in his books – “Project Management in History: The First Jeep” and “The Original Jeeps.” He doesn’t lean heavily on secondary source material, instead relying on the U.S. National Archives in College Park, Md., for much of his information. Much of that came from documents associated with a lawsuit that involved Willys-Overland and the federal government.
Bruno said virtually every key player in the battle to win the original Jeep contract was deposed, and because the depositions took place shortly after the events played out in real time – and the fact that witnesses were testifying under oath, with the prospect of perjury hanging over them – the record likely was about as accurate as one could get.
“It was a very unique situation,” he said. “It wasn’t like they were deposed 30 years later and not remembering things very well. And they were not going to embellish things because they were under oath.”
Bruno heavily tapped that treasure trove of material for his first two books, and some of it also has made its way into Bruno’s third book, titled “The Original Jeeps in Pictures,” which is scheduled to be published June 19. His latest book focuses on all seven of the original Jeeps and goes up to the period ending in November 1941.
In addition to featuring more than 200 photos, the new book includes images of some of the drawings, memos and communiques that he found at the National Archives. Among them is what he considers THE memo that kicked off the Jeep procurement effort – a two-page note dated June 6, 1940.
“I don’t think anyone has ever published that memo before,” Bruno said. “And every single Jeep since then comes from that memo.”
Although his book projects have required a great deal of time and patience, he refers to them as a labor of love.
“Once I found the court case and a whole lot of other documents, I was able to start piecing the story together,” he said. “I thought, ‘Wow – this is just amazing.’ I use that word a lot when I talk about the early Jeep History.”
