PRINTER'S NO. 1732
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE RESOLUTION
No.
382
Session of
2015
INTRODUCED BY MARSHALL, METCALFE, ELLIS, PYLE, JAMES, NESBIT,
BAKER, COHEN, DiGIROLAMO, DUSH, FREEMAN, GREINER, KILLION,
KIRKLAND, KNOWLES, READSHAW, SONNEY, THOMAS, VEREB, MURT,
HENNESSEY, KINSEY, CALTAGIRONE, BENNINGHOFF, DONATUCCI,
ROZZI, MARSICO, HEFFLEY, JOZWIAK, GROVE, O'NEILL, WHEELAND
AND MILLARD, JUNE 8, 2015
INTRODUCED AS NONCONTROVERSIAL RESOLUTION UNDER RULE 35,
JUNE 8, 2015
A RESOLUTION
Commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Bantam jeep, invented
and originally manufactured in Butler, Pennsylvania.
WHEREAS, The American Bantam Car Company invented, developed
and produced one of the most famous vehicles in the world, the
jeep, in Butler, Pennsylvania; and
WHEREAS, In 1940, the United States Army issued a challenge
to tractor and auto manufacturers to produce a prototype in 49
days of a four-wheel drive, 40 horsepower, 1,300 pound
reconnaissance car that could haul soldiers as well as heavy
artillery; and
WHEREAS, The American Bantam Car Company promised to deliver
the prototype in only 45 days, and won the Army contract; and
WHEREAS, A team composed of Bantam's factory manager, Frank
Fenn, former General Motors executive, Arthur Brandt, freelance
designer, Karl Probst and a skeleton crew worked together at a
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frantic pace for nearly seven weeks to design and build the
prototype called the Bantam Reconnaissance Car, or BRC; and
WHEREAS, Bantam presented the vehicle to the Army at Camp
Holabird, Maryland where the Army tested it for 30 days; and
WHEREAS, Unfortunately, Bantam could not meet the Army's
production demand of 75 vehicles per day; and
WHEREAS, The Army gave Bantam's blueprints to Willys-Overland
Motors and Ford Motor Company, who went on to produce 600,000
jeeps for World War II; and
WHEREAS, President Dwight Eisenhower was quoted as saying,
"The Jeep, the Dakota airplane, and the landing craft were the
three tools that won the war."; and
WHEREAS, Bantam produced a total of 2,675 jeeps and then
manufactured jeep cargo trailers, torpedo motors and other items
until they closed in 1956; therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives commemorate the
75th anniversary of the Bantam jeep, invented and originally
manufactured in Butler, Pennsylvania.
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