the low bidder, Willys was penalized for requesting more time, and American Bantam received the contract, as the only company committing to deliver a pilot model in 49 days and production examples . American Bantam's chief engineer, Harold Crist, who had previously worked on the first Duesenberg and been an engineer at Stutz Motor Company of Indianapolis for 18 years, drafted freelance Detroit designer Karl Probst to collaborate. Probst turned down American Bantam initially, but agreed to work without pay after an Army request and began work on 17 July 1940. Karl Probst laid out full design drawings for the American Bantam prototype, known as the Bantam Reconnaissance Car, or BRC Pilot, in just two days, and worked up a cost estimate the next day. American Bantam's bid was submitted, complete with blueprints, on 22 July. American Bantam had purchased the assets of American Austin Car Company from the bankruptcy court and had developed their own line of small cars and engine technology, free of licenses from the British Austin Motor Company. As the only small car manufacturer in the United States at the time, their design was able to leverage commercial off-the-shelf components as much as possible. American Bantam adapted front sheet metal body stampings from its car line: the cowl, dashboard, and curvy front fenders. As the American Bantam engines only Mars 22 hp, a Hercules engine was rejected in favor of a Continental four-cylinder, making 45 horsepower and of torque, mated to a Warner Gear transmission. Custom four-wheel drive-train components included the Spicer transfer case to send power to front and back axles, plus the axles were Spicer units for the Studebaker Champion, modified for four-wheel drive use. Using off-the-shelf automotive parts where possible had partly enabled drawing up the blueprints quickly. By working backward, Probst and American Bantam's draftsmen converted what Crist and a few others had put together into drawings. The hand-built prototype was then completed in Butler, Pennsylvania, and driven to the Army vehicle test center at Camp Holabird, Maryland. It was delivered on 23 September 1940. The vehicle met all the Army's criteria except vehicle weight and engine torque. The American Bantam Pilot, initially called the "Blitz Buggy", and later also dubbed "Old Number One") presented Army officials with the first of what eventually evolved into the World War II U.S. military jeep. Enter Willys and Ford – early production jeeps As American