The 1938 American Bantam: A Compact Car With A Legacy Far Bigger

There’s been a lot of boardroom drama at Stellantis recently and the automaker’s U.S. sales have been in freefall. We can’t predict what the future holds for the latest parent company of Chrysler Dodge, Ram and Jeep, but we’re certain about one thing: the vehicle we all think of when anyone says the word “Jeep” will survive. 

America’s iconic open top 4×4 has clawed its way out of the ruins of every automaker it’s ever been affiliated with. That includes the first: American Bantam. This star-crossed maker of miniature cars and trucks—based on British designs—invented the military jeep, in hopes of scoring a lucrative WWII-era military contract that would allow it to stay afloat.

The company’s 4×4 Reconnaissance Car prototype was a game changer and the blueprint for the jeep as we know it. But as plucky and innovative as Bantam was, it ultimately lost the military jeep contract to Willys-Overland and Ford. The rest is history.

The jaunty 1938 American Bantam Roadster featured here was one the economical compacts that the Butler, Pennsylvania, based firm had built its ill-fated business model on. There were other body styles as well, coupes, a speedster, a pickup, a panel, a wood-bodied station wagon etc.—all designed to be inexpensive to buy and stingy with a gallon of fuel. When new, this little Roadster cost approximately $450, but it sold on Hemmings Auctions back in 2022 for $30,450. It even sparked some spirited bidding that extended the duration of the auction. As collectibles there’s demand for Bantams today, but back in 1938—the marque’s inaugural model year—they were a tougher sell.

Closeup of the engine bay in a 1938 Austin Bantam.

The brief Bantam saga dates back to Great Britain’s Austin, which wanted to break into the American market in the 1920s with its inexpensive Austin Seven. The little car had been a smash success in the UK and was built under license in Europe and Asia, so Austin confidently wooed U.S. investors. By early 1929, American Austin had set up shop in a former car factory in Butler with a former General Motors executive, Arthur Brandt, at the helm.

The new company hoped to move 10,000 Bantams a year through a network of more than 400 dealers in the U.S. and abroad. But when the dust settled, approximately 2,000 were sold. The company fared slightly better in 1939, selling more than 3,300 cars and trucks but 1940 was a letdown with just 1,200 vehicles finding owners. It was during that same year, that Bantam’s Karl Probst designed and delivered the first Bantam Reconnaissance Car, aka jeep, for testing at Fort Holabird and Fort Knox in Kentucky. By all accounts, the BRC pilot and the BRC-60 and 40 series rigs that followed performed well in military tryouts. But the government was skeptical that Bantam could produce the large quantities of jeeps it needed, so it shopped the concept around and ultimately awarded the contract to Willys and Ford. Bantam wound up with a diminished role making trailers and a few jeeps that allowed it to stay in business through the war, but by the mid-1950s the company was gone.

Image of a 1938 American Bantam parked in nearly a profile position.

Stylist Alexis De Sakhnoﬀsky gave the stateside Austin an Americanized body design which would be mounted to an Austin chassis with power from Austin’s 15-hp, 45-cu.in. flathead four-cylinder. These were handsome little cars, first offered as a coupe and a roadster, just 10 feet long and 4.5 feet wide weighing in at about 1,100 pounds. But they had to compete with an 800-pound gorilla, Ford’s Model A, which sold for right around the same money in 1930. There’s a reason why there are so many Model As around today and so few American Austins: about 8,500 copies of the British expat were sold in 1930. That number dropped to 1,200 for ’31. In 1932 American Austin declared bankruptcy.

But the story didn’t end there: successful car dealer Roy Evans, who’d sold more Austins than anyone in America, stepped in and tried to salvage the brand. There were glimmers of success, but still not enough sales to keep the manufacturer afloat. So, Evans regrouped, brought in De Sakhnoffsky to design an updated body, reworked the Austin four cylinder to make more horsepower and American Bantam was born.

The dash, steering wheel and interior of a 1938 Austin Bantam.

The new cars were attractive—styled like Buick Specials that had been left in the dryer too long. The upright slatted grille was stamped steel and painted, rather than chrome plated, to keep costs down, but the headlight trim, bumpers hood ornament and side spears sported bright finishes. The cockpits were cozy, with basic instrumentation and furniture for two adults.

Under the hood was Bantam’s engine—a revised take on the Austin design designed to make more power and allow it to avoid paying Austin any licensing fees. The first version of the Bantam four had two main bearings—poured Babbitt—in place of the Austin’s front double-row ball bearing and rear roller bearing. A boost in compression from 5:1 to 7:1 increased output from 14 hp to 20 hp. A more powerful 22-hp Bantam four arrived in 1940 with a slightly larger bore and stroke, 7.4:1 compression, and a third main bearing located in the center. 

Though Bantam’s cars and trucks never realized their full potential in the market, the company’s pioneering work in four-wheel drive helped the Allies win WWII and created a thriving automotive subculture that lives on today.