Preservationists aim to save Butler site where Jeep was born
By Rick Wills, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Birthplace of a legend
Long before the Jeep brand became a symbol of youth and inspired knockoffs such as the Land Rover, Hummer and Ford Explorer, the original SUV carried people like George Patton and Omar Bradley over rough and muddy terrain in war-scarred Europe.
"Eisenhower said jeeps saved the war effort. The vehicle took the place of what horses did only a few years before," said Dave Zibrat, 76 of Center, Butler County, who has been driving jeeps since he was 12 and heads the Flat Fenders Club, collectors of vintage jeeps that boasts members from Alaska to South America.
The first jeeps rolled off an assembly line in 1940 at Butler's Bantam building, a 110-year-old structure that preservationists are campaigning to save.
"This is where the jeep was designed and created. This is a nationally significantly building," said Becky Smith, main street manager for Butler Downtown, one of the organizations trying to preserve the building, owned by the AK Steel Corp.
The city is trying to win $25,000 from the National Trust for Historic Preservation to restore the building, whose most immediate repair would be fixing a hole in the roof.
"I think it is important. This building talks about who we are in Butler and should be a local point of pride," said Jack Cohen, executive director of the Butler County Tourism and Convention Bureau.
The building's significance dates back 70 years to when freelance design engineer Karl Probst and the American Bantam Car Co. won the Army's design contest for a prototype of a new military vehicle.
The competition was intense and short -- just 49 days.
"The contest was very specific about what the vehicle had to do. It also had to be designed very quickly," Zibrat said.
The American Bantam Car Factory of Butler and Willys-Overland Motors of Toledo, Ohio, were the only companies that responded to the military's request. Nearly 3,000 Army jeeps were produced in Butler, but production was later moved to Willys' larger plant in Ohio.
Almost instantly, the vehicle became an American icon -- especially after its off-road capabilities were vividly shown by driving a jeep up the steps of the U.S. Capitol.
The Bantam building was built in 1899 and 1900 by the Davis Lead Co. and later owned by the National Lead and Oil Co. and the Standard Steel Car Co., which sold the building to the American Bantam Car Co. in 1929.
Bantam lost contracts with the military to Willys and Ford when it could not produce the required 75 jeeps per day. The best Bantam could manage was 30 per day.
The company shut its doors in 1956.
The Young Preservationists Association of Pittsburgh this year named the Bantam Building to its top 10 List of best preservation opportunities in the Pittsburgh area.
By Rick Wills, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Birthplace of a legend
Long before the Jeep brand became a symbol of youth and inspired knockoffs such as the Land Rover, Hummer and Ford Explorer, the original SUV carried people like George Patton and Omar Bradley over rough and muddy terrain in war-scarred Europe.
"Eisenhower said jeeps saved the war effort. The vehicle took the place of what horses did only a few years before," said Dave Zibrat, 76 of Center, Butler County, who has been driving jeeps since he was 12 and heads the Flat Fenders Club, collectors of vintage jeeps that boasts members from Alaska to South America.
The first jeeps rolled off an assembly line in 1940 at Butler's Bantam building, a 110-year-old structure that preservationists are campaigning to save.
"This is where the jeep was designed and created. This is a nationally significantly building," said Becky Smith, main street manager for Butler Downtown, one of the organizations trying to preserve the building, owned by the AK Steel Corp.
The city is trying to win $25,000 from the National Trust for Historic Preservation to restore the building, whose most immediate repair would be fixing a hole in the roof.
"I think it is important. This building talks about who we are in Butler and should be a local point of pride," said Jack Cohen, executive director of the Butler County Tourism and Convention Bureau.
The building's significance dates back 70 years to when freelance design engineer Karl Probst and the American Bantam Car Co. won the Army's design contest for a prototype of a new military vehicle.
The competition was intense and short -- just 49 days.
"The contest was very specific about what the vehicle had to do. It also had to be designed very quickly," Zibrat said.
The American Bantam Car Factory of Butler and Willys-Overland Motors of Toledo, Ohio, were the only companies that responded to the military's request. Nearly 3,000 Army jeeps were produced in Butler, but production was later moved to Willys' larger plant in Ohio.
Almost instantly, the vehicle became an American icon -- especially after its off-road capabilities were vividly shown by driving a jeep up the steps of the U.S. Capitol.
The Bantam building was built in 1899 and 1900 by the Davis Lead Co. and later owned by the National Lead and Oil Co. and the Standard Steel Car Co., which sold the building to the American Bantam Car Co. in 1929.
Bantam lost contracts with the military to Willys and Ford when it could not produce the required 75 jeeps per day. The best Bantam could manage was 30 per day.
The company shut its doors in 1956.
The Young Preservationists Association of Pittsburgh this year named the Bantam Building to its top 10 List of best preservation opportunities in the Pittsburgh area.
