stock bantam

[bobthehobbyguy]

I think ths is a stock 32 Bantam

Edited July 19, 2015 by bobthehobbyguy
spelling error

[jbwelda]

I don't know what a "Bantem" is but this is a stock Bantam:

jb

[1930fordpickup]

They both look like pedal cars. They would look nice in my garage.

[oldcarfan]

These are cool. I would love to see conversion kits to build one of these in a stock form. For that matter, it would be neat to have one for the Henry J, the Topolino and the other drag kits.

[detailstymied]

yeah. i'll admit i use google quite a bit if i am concerned with correct or even questionable spelling. recently watched a youtube video and the producer spelled the name of his own build wrong. so i used the thumbs down button. his next video was whining that he received his first dislike.

no child left behind, indeed.

[Skip]

austinbantamclub.com

The above link to the Austin Bantam Club has some really cool reference pictures of the various cars that the American Austin Co. made. I'd never seen that the "Coupe" sedan looking body style had the cloth covering like a Model A sedan, I thought that I knew quite a bit about them until I hit on that website.

[Miatatom]

A guy in my neighborhood has 2 of them.

[Greg Myers]

These are cool. I would love to see conversion kits to build one of these in a stock form. For that matter, it would be neat to have one for the Henry J, the Topolino and the other drag kits.

   

Edited July 17, 2015 by Greg Myers

[bobthehobbyguy]

Cool stuff Greg.

[gasser59]

Thanks for those pics Greg. Tamiya makes a 1/35 scale military stock Fiat. It is so well done and I plan to mate mine up with the Monogram Hemi Fiat that I got from a member. One day.

[oldcarfan]

Great pictures.I like to uild pairs when I can, so I bought two of the Monogram '40 Ford pickups.   I converted one of them back to stock using the parts from an AMT '40 Ford car. Not 100% correct, but close enough for me.

Sorry, guys, wrong photo,  guess I don't have one of '40s.

[AzTom]

Diecast Ertl Bantam

 

[ChrisBcritter]

This is what the earlier ones looked like; there used to be one parked out front of Harry's Radiator on Valley Boulevard in Rosemead, CA that was identical to this one:

And in Yucca Valley, CA, the front end of one is mounted on the front of Ole's Alignment (a motor spins its wobbly wheels):

And for the heck of it, here's one more (from Louisville, KY) back in the day:

Cute as a bug's ear and slightly larger.

Edited July 20, 2015 by ChrisBcritter

[Greg Myers]

[Art Anderson]

I think ths is a stock 32 Bantam

That is an American Bantam, but much newer than 1932.  American Bantam grew out of the dormant remains of the American Austin Company, Butler PA, which started up about 1930 building the Austin Seven under license.  American Austin shut down, bankrupt, about 1935-36, but was "rescued" by the fairly successful Austin dealer in Florida.  He reorganized the company as American Bantam in 1937-38, with a quick facelift to the front clip and fenders, but otherwise pretty much retaining the original body shells, which modernized the original American Austin bodies, and began production anew.

The problem with these cars was simple, and raised its head with every new compact car of the 40's into the early 60's.  In the US, we very much used to equate size with value--bigger was expensive, smaller was expected to be cheaper--and the American Austin had to sell at a price only marginally lower than a Model A Ford--so the impression of "cheap" at a higher-than-expected pricetag was a real drawback, particularly with the Great Depression settling in on the country. Postwar, the Nash Rambler, Kaiser Henry J, Willys Aero all face that very same objection--"too little car for the money!"  In short, the Austin, just as with the later Bantam, just wasn't seen as anything more than a curiosity, a car for either the eccentric or perhaps as an inexpensive plaything.

Of course, American Bantam went on to one last roll of the dice--creating what became the Jeep (Bantam Reconnaisance Car or BRC), but after producing a few hundred of them in 1941, Bantam was relegated to building the 1/4 ton military trailers for towing behind the Willys MB and Ford GP Jeeps.  Bantam continued making light 2-wheel cargo trailers after WW-II, surviving until 1954.

[bobthehobbyguy]

Thanks Art. Great info. Wasn't sure about the year.