The design of the World War II jeep was the result of a long process, involving the contributions of both U.S. military officers and civilian engineers. The idea of the jeep originated with the infantry, which needed a low, powerful vehicle with four-wheel drive - the latter were mostly tied to three companies: Bantam, Willys, and Ford, with the development repeatedly being described as a "design by committee"
The BANTAM 40 BRC (the production version of the Bantam) was no longer required by the US Army as it was 'non-standard'. The Bantams already in service with the army together with the continued output from the factory were passed to the British and Russian armies under the terms of the Lend-Lease Act. In total 2675 Bantam 40 BRC vehicles were built, 62 of which had four-wheel steer. Having been first to suggest and build a 'jeep', Bantam was made to share Probst's plans with competitors then lost out in securing any work under contracts for the universal jeep and spent the rest of the war building trailers, aircraft parts and torpedo motors.
