[TheForge] Re: Fw: [EK-Equine] Trailering question....

[theforge@mailman.qth.net]

Here is a link to an abreviated  story of the Bantam Jeep:

 http://4wheeldrive.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%2Fourworld.compuserve.com%2Fhomepages%2Fjeep_man%2Fbantam.htm

The discovery channel, or possibly the learning channel have a longer 
documentary on this.  It is interesting to watch due to focusing on the 
personalities involved.  Bantam management really were entrepenuers of 
the dirty fingernail sort.   They would have fit in real well here on 
the forge.  The story goes, their inititial prototype delivered to the 
army was built from a collection of junkyard tractor and trailor 
components combined with a few selected custom developments. The 
simplicity of the sheetmetal work was due to time constraints rather 
than design ethics.    It is understandable, but unfortuneate how it 
turned out for them.


Charles

Mike Spencer wrote:

>>A sad story in American Enterprise.  An impoverished Bantam invented
>>the Jeep for the US army...
>>    
>>
>
>Interesting to have some history for this thing.  The only repair
>that's ever bin done was replacement of a wheel bearing at about the
>35 year mark.   I had to hunt up a Jeep collector/restorer to find the
>part because the trailer uses the same bearing as the vehicle.
>
>- Mike
>
>  
>