Our Story
01 / Founded 1935
America’s First
Compact Pickup
Truck Manufacturer.
Founded 1935. Butler, Pennsylvania. American Bantam® is building again – assembled in the USA, with American steel.
The Beginning
A Delaware Corporation.
With a Pennsylvania Heart.
American Bantam started as a Pennsylvania car manufacturer building compact cars and compact pickup trucks.
During the Depression when the factory ran out of rear-end body parts, American Bantam’s founder Roy Evans told the factory to replace the car’s rear end with a pickup bed. American Bantam would later deliver these same compact pickup trucks to the U.S. Army. They performed so well the U.S. Army asked American Bantam to build the first Jeep. Eighty-six years later, American Bantam is tooling up to get compact pickup trucks back on the production line.
American Bantam Car Corporation was founded in 1935 in Butler, Pennsylvania. The original company built small, light cars and compact pickup trucks until the U.S. Army needed someone to design and deliver a reconnaissance car in 49 days. American Bantam said yes. That prototype was the first Jeep.
Today’s American Bantam Car Corp. is organized in the United States and carries the trademark, the history, and the obligation that comes with both.
When a company’s name contains the word American, the products they sell in the USA must be built in the USA. No two ways about it.– Charles D. Paglee, Chairman & CEO
That sentence is not a tagline. It is a core operating principal for every purchasing decision we make. American steel, American jobs, American assembly – no asterisks.
The People Behind It
A Story With
A Standard.
01 / About
Built On A Name That Means Something.
Learn the story of American Bantam Car Corporation, the trademark, and the manufacturing standard guiding the company forward.
Full About Page02 / Leadership
Charles D. Paglee.
Chairman & CEO.
Charlie Paglee leads American Bantam’s return to U.S. manufacturing. His position is simple and stated above: if the name says American, the factory has to be American too.
Full Leadership PageWhy Now
Why A 1935 Company
Is Building Again In 2026.
The brand, the trademark, and the story already exist. New American Bantam vehicles have been missing for over 80 years. That will change in 2027:
Four vehicles. One core operating principal: American steel, American jobs, American assembly. Specs and pricing for each model will be confirmed separately on their vehicle pages as final numbers are locked.
Same Name. Same Standard. Affordable Trucks.
See the next chapter of American Bantam.
See the 2026 Lineup