For Immediate release
Contact Bill Spear, President ABS
(907) 586- 2209 before September 20, 2009
Show hosts, Colin and Pat Hughes (805) 659-5153
Jim and Katie Johnston (805) 642-1717
FOR A SELECTION OF AUSTIN AND BANTAM PHOTOS TO ACCOMPANY THIS RELEASE GO HERE.
AUSTIN AND BANTAM CAR SHOW
Ventura, CA- The Austin Bantam Sociery will hold its 42nd Annual Trophy meet and show in Ventura, CA this year and invites the public to join it in viewing and enthusing over these charming little cars. The public showing of the cars is on Saturday September 25, 2009 from 10 AM to 4 PM in the Marina Park.
The ABS has members in 48 States and 17 foreign countries and its annual event draws participants from the entire United States and is one of the few places a wide variety of these interesting and important cars can be seen. This year the show seems guaranteed to be one of the largest gatherings of these rare and important cars ever. Meet hosts Colin and Pat Hughes of Ventura expect at least 30 cars to be on display.
The American Austin Car Company was founded in 1929 to produce a car based on the popular Austin 7 of England to which it paid a licensing fee, although the cars are dissimilar in many ways. The engine was a mirror reversal of the 750cc (45 ci) English unit and the body style was quite different, having been drawn by renowned designer Count Alexis de Sakhnoffsky to suit American tastes. Weighing just 1200 lbs. with a wheel base of a mere 75 inches the American Austins and Bantams can rightly be said to be America's first compact or economy cars, a category of vehicle coming under increased scrutiny today with its high fuel prices. Austin and Bantam owners report performance in the range of 45 to 50 mpg in their 70 and 80 year old cars. The ABS includes the English Austins and other marques based on it in its Charter.
The little cars were an immediate sensation which captured the public imagination and were the beneficiaries of much sentimental favor. Unfortunately however actual sales of the cars fell far short of original predictions. The Austin was lovable and cute, but the American public did not seem ready to accept a small car, even during the depression years. The "Baby Austins" were very popular in Hollywood where they were featured in several films and were especially popular with comedians such as Buster Keaton, W.C. Fields, and others who used them in humorous movie routines. The newly arrived star Mickey Mouse had an American Austin in one of his first movies "Traffic Troubles", and to this day drives a successor Bantam on daily parades in Disneyland.
By 1935 the American Austin Company was forced to declare bankruptcy and ceased production after just over 20,000 units had been produced. Enter Roy S. Evans an energetic and colorful entrepreneur who bought the Butler factory and revived the Company. Wishing to avoid the onerous 7 dollar licensing fee to Austin of England, the engine design was changed in some respects and Sakhnoffsky was recalled to update the styling which he did brilliantly.
Where the Austin is a classic upright shape of the late 20's much like the Model A Ford, the new Bantam featured very up to date late 30's "streamline" or "airline" styling, replete with pontoon, skirted fenders and chrome speed lines. The brilliance of the styling effort lay in the fact that only the fender and hood sections were changed while the earlier Austin body tub was retained for reasons of economy. Under the skin the Bantam is very similar to the Austin.
Evans made a heroic effort to sell the little cars to a balky public and developed a remarkable number of variations and models based on the same frame and running gear. Among others, a wooden station wagon, a panel truck, a beautiful open delivery van called the "Boulevard Delivery" , two and four seat versions of coupes and convertibles were offered and even a few tiny articulated trucks. Many of these models will be on display Saturday. In 1940 Alex Tremulis the Los Angeles "chop shop" designer would later become famous for his many innovative designs such as the Tucker Torpedo developed some elegant little Bantam convertible coupes.
Unfortunately the Bantam, though taken more seriously by the public did not sell well either with only about 6700 units produced. By 1940 the last civilian cars were rolling off the assembly line and the company seemed near failure. However, in one of the most interesting and exciting Cinderella stories in automotive history, the innovative Evans had one more car to play with the tiny Bantam, and an ace it was.
On September 23, 1940 after an breathless 49 day build, a funny looking little contraption rolled out of the Butler factory that changed the world. Arguably the most important American vehicle ever developed before or since , the spunky, short coupled little odd ball could climb the steepest hills and ford streams and swamps with ease. No one had seen the like of this thing Evans called the Bantam Reconnaissance Car. It was soon given a more familiar name by the people who drove it. The jeep. [No caps]
Sadly the jeep came too late to save Bantam as a car manufacturer. The factory was too small to compete physically, and more importantly the small company could not survive the professional league political infighting that characterized pre-war Washington. Probst's brilliant design and Bantams heroic development efforts were confiscated by the Army and given to larger companies to produce. Only 2671 BRC jeeps were manufactured, most of which were sent into service and combat in the Lend Lease program before its competitors even had prototypes. Today the Bantam is still accorded hero status where it was known as the "Bantik" (little bow knot, as a shoelace) . Perhaps 35 running BRC's survive today. In a cruel twist of irony Bantam spent the war manufacturing trailers for the jeeps it had developed but were being produced by others. At least one of these rare survivors is expected to be at the meet.
Admission to the Saturday show is free. One of the most coveted of the Club awards is the "Peoples Choice" or "Sweetheart" award where visitors enter a vote for their favorite car. If you have an American Austin or Bantam or a pre-war English Austin or a modified Austin or Bantam you would like to display please contact Colin Hughes at (805) 659-5153 or Jim Johnston (805) 642-1717 before September 24. The Club accepts cars in any state of condition or completion. If you can't make the Saturday show, a "fun run" for some of the cars will take place Friday mid-morning where they will tour the Ventura area. Be careful not to step on one! They're mighty small!