Note the crudely welded and much bigger (heavier) bumpers. I have to believe that this is an uncaring, utilitarian post-war addition in that such a modification to the Bantam as an Army vehicle would have added an additional 40 lbs or so. Other manufacturers just didn't get it when it came to weight. The Bantam was such an elegant solution to the Army bid specs precisely because it was so elegant in this respect. Not too much. Just enough. A smaller engine to be sure, but perfectly adequate to carry the 500 pound load.When you increase power, as was done in the Willys submission, you have to increase everything else along with it all down the design line. It takes stronger (heavier) frame members and suspension. it needs to carry more gas in a bigger tank. etc.
After Bantam made this Army daydream a reality; a truly tactics changing weapon, the Army later decided, perhaps rightly, that it wanted more power and a heavier truck, and went with the Willys variation of the Bantam. But as automotive historians, let us remember that this was not the original design question posed in the Army specs and it is not fair to say that the Willys was "better" as a response to the Army Request for Proposals. It wasn't.