What is the story behind the 1932 "Austin Bantam" bodies that you see for sale alongside t-bucket kits? the bodies look like they have a lot of potential, but, like t-buckets, i only have seen them as shitty '70s style dragsters with 350/350s, metal flake paint, parachutes and/or tweedy bird graphics. Has anyone attempted to build a decent looking car with one of these? I know glass isn't really traditional but i figure cheap roadster bodies are.
That IS nice. Don't like the front springs though... Chevy I guess? I have a model A fordor and a 1950 flathead but the body is going to take a LOT of work, and kinda would like something a bit more sporty. I don't really know yet.
They guy in those pictures must be REALLY small. A Bantam is actually smaller than a T except for width. He looks tiny in that thing.
That car is not all Bantam. If you look it is grafted to another cowl and doors. It lacks the distictive body line on the Bantam. Also the cowl area on a bantam is almost non existant. Hence the extra room. If your going glass anyway, why not stretch it. Or mate it to a glass T cowl.
The reason they are built as "shitty '70s style dragsters", is because that was one of the most popular bodies for the "Altered Classes", and some very famous cars were built using it. People remember that. Some were built as street rods, too, but they weren't real popular for that. Maybe it was the rarity of these imported British cars, or maybe it was because they were so small.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Aust...012QQitemZ220192355939QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW they are very cute like a merry go round car.. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Aust...001QQitemZ110215466761QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Repl...005QQitemZ150206900367QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW
They are not imported. They are "American Austin" and later Bantam cars. You might see if you can find a picture of J D Tones roadster. Attached a small picture of my coup
I believe the American Austins and Bantams were not imported. They were built in the states, but the design was British.
A good friend built a street rod from one of these in the mid 70's. I built a custom radiator for it (brass) and it looked really nice.
Bantam was the company that originally conceived the jeep but the contract to build them was ultimatly awarded to willys because bantam wasnt equiped to make so many jeeps and they got stuck making the trailers
They are NOT English!!! Built in Butler ,Pa. http://www.butlercountyhistoricalsociety-pa.org/bantam.html
Actually, the cowl continued out under the hood for about 10" to provide leg room for the driver. The passenger had to make do with less room as the battery was mounted in the firewall. My car was one of those '70s drag cars with no leg room, I just moulded up the cowl extension from photos of original cars. It's still small inside, but at least my knees don't hit the steering wheel. Flatman
The bantam was most definately an American vehicle. It was based on the English Austin 7 frame but as a roadster or much nicer looking coupe than the Seven. It was quite clear that at this time American vehicles were much more stylish than their counterparts here in the UK. I dont think it was overly popular as a road vehicle due to it being so small however it took off massively as a suitable body for an altered dragster. I dont remember too many of the altereds having a "tweedy bird" on them however. there were of course the most well known - 'Rat Trap, 'Pure Heaven', Pure Hell, 'DiMattio brothers'. Our particular 'shitty 70s style dragster' does have a bird on the side of it along with the car's name 'Ragin' Cajun'. It does have a metalflake body but runs an alky injected 302ci ford and beefed up c4 tranny.
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