The Batam Motor car company started life in 1929 under the name of "American Austin" making cars under patent from Austin of England till 1934 when they went bankrupt. They reorganized to make the Batam redesigning the car to avoid paying Austin royalities. It was a car that was never taken seriously because it was so small with a overall length of 106 inches long and was 46 inches wide and a wheelbase of 75 inches. Stripped it weighted just 700 pounds eventually reaching 1150 pounds. The engine had a bore and stroke of 2.2 inches. It produced 10.5 or 7.8 hp at 2400 rpm's depending who's rating were used. The company never did well financially. When the specifications were put out by the army for the GP, Bantam had the expertise to build a small vehicle meeting the weight requirement and produced a prototype meeting all the specifications. Willys also had a prototype that weighted much more but had a reliable engine that Bantam lacked. The Army rewrote the specifications and Willys got the contract. Bantam survived during the war making the trailers we all know that jeeps pulled. After WWII the car's styling was updated but the Bantam motor car company didn't last much longer. Last time I was at the Henry Ford museumem there was both a Batam and Ford GP on display.
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