A screenwriter couldn't ask for a better script. The story of the Jeep's invention at Butler's Bantam Car Company remains one of the most interesting in automotive history.

The legend of the Jeep began in 1940 when the Army Quartermaster Corps sent an invitation to 135 companies to develop a new light scout car to help win World War II. The Bantam Company had no design staff or engineer and contracted with Karl Probst, a Detroit-based engineer. Thankfully, Probst appreciated the importance of the project and hurriedly put together the design, which won the Bantam Company the bid. But the Jeep's time in Butler County was limited.

Only about 3,000 Jeeps were produced in the Bantam plant after Willys in Toledo and Ford both came up with contenders to the original design. Both Willys and Ford could provide massive production capacity which, at the time, greatly appealed to the army brass.

Visitors to Toledo, Ohio, can today see the Jeep sitting majestically on top of the manufacturing plant along route 475. But those in Butler who know the story can take pride in the fact that the original design came from some industrious and ingenious workers at a tiny automobile plant in western Pennsylvania.

The Bantam Car Company plant is till standing on property currently owned by the A-K Steel Company. Visible behind a booming Pullman Square shopping plaza, the plant is designated by an official Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission marker.

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