1932 BANTAM CONVERTIBLE 13B ROTARY ENGINE

1932 Bantam BANTAM ROADSTER CONVERTIBLE

1932 Austin-Bantam Roadster

Mazda 13 B, 2 Rotor Motor

Modified Porting

Supercharged

750 Holley Carb

90# Oil Pump

Racing Clutch & Pressure Plate

5 Spd Trans & Rear End

Mazda Brake System

Mustang Steering

3 pc Racing WheelsBelow we have provided Wikipedia's history of the Bantam for your education and enjoyment.

TheAmerican Austin Car Companywas an American automobile manufacturing corporation. The company was founded in 1929, and produced motorcars licensed from the BritishAustin Motor Companyfrom 1930 through 1934, when it filed forbankruptcy.

In 1935 the company was reorganized under the nameAmerican Bantam. Production resumed in 1937 and continued through 1941, including the firstprototypeof what later became theJeep.[1]

American Austin Car Company was founded in 1929, inButler,Pennsylvania, in premises that had belonged to theStandard Steel Car Company.[2]Their intention was to assemble and sell in the United States a version of theAustin 7car, called American Austin.[3]After some initial success theGreat Depressionset in, and sales fell off to the point that production was suspended. In 1934 the company filed for bankruptcy.

The automobile was designed in the hopes of creating a market for small-car enthusiasts in the United States. The cars had 747cc (45.6cuin)inline-four engines, enabling the car to return 40mpgUS(48mpgimp; 5.9L/100km), and travel 1,000 miles or 1,600 kilometres per 2USqt (1.7impqt; 1.9l) fill of oil.[4]It was capable of 50mph (80km/h) in high gear.[5]Styling resembled smallChevrolets, withStutz- andMarmon-style horizontal hoodlouvres. The bodies were designed byAlexis de Sakhnoffskyand made by the Hayes Body Company of Detroit. Thecoupewas billed as asedan, and sold for $445, slightly less than aFord V8roadster. The Great Depression made the cheaper secondhand cars more appealing, so sales dropped off.

More than 8,000 cars were sold during the company's first (and best) year of sales, but sales fell off to the point that production was suspended in 1932. It restarted in 1934 with bodies now made in-house, but stopped again between 1935 and 1937.

About 20,000 cars were produced.

Beginning in the 1960s, the car gained a following withhot rodders, as well as amongdrag racers. The 75in (1,900mm) wheelbase[5]made it attractive, even compared to theAnglia.[citation needed]

In 1935, Roy Evans, a former salesman for Austin, bought out the bankrupt company, which was reorganized under the nameAmerican Bantam. The formal connection withUK Austinwas severed, though a relationship was maintained. A series of changes was made to the American Austin car design, including a modified engine, and an exteriorsheetmetaldesigned byAlexis de Sakhnoffsky.

Production was resumed in 1937, and continued through 1941. Despite a wide range of Bantam body styles, ranging fromlight truckstowoodiestation wagons, only about 6,000 Bantams of all types were produced.

American Bantam's 1938 model was the inspiration forDonald Duck's car which was first seen inDon Donald(1937).

American Bantam also pioneered the first Jeep to a design byKarl Probst,[1][2]still with rounded fenders, and built 2765 of these (more than half of which went to theBritish Armyand some sent on to theSoviet Union) after discontinuing the manufacture of passenger vehicles. Some of the motors and chassis were imported fromToledo, Ohio; the bodies were made at the American Bantam Car factory inButler, Pennsylvania.

The company produced the most fuel-efficient engine and first prototype under the original tender specifications and was awarded the first contract, but because Willys Overland used a more powerful engine, and because elements favorable to Ford within the Quartermaster Corps claimed[6]that Bantam lacked production capacity to produce the vehicle on the scale needed by theUnited States Department of War, the awarding of ongoing contracts was reopened. Eventually theU.S. Armygave theBRC (Bantam Reconnaissance Car) 40designs toWillys-Overlandand awarded the bulk of orders to Willys andFord,[7]while Bantam went on to produce Jeep trailers (T-3).

After Jeep production stopped, Bantam made two-wheel trailers. This continued until the company was taken over byAmerican Rolling Millsin 1956.[2]

Another view of the 1939 American Bantam

Bantam Model 60 Coupé 1938

Bantam Model 60 Roadster 1938

Bantam Model 60 Convertible 1939

American Bantam Model 60 Speedster Convertible 1939

An American Austin hood ornament