History Old Hot Rod Bantam Pickup Found - From Charlotte, NC

I was at a truck show over the weekend, and just couldn't pass up this unique little hot rod.

The guy had just dragged it to NH from Charlotte, NC where it had been sitting for 40 something years at a shop called Allison's Used Trucks. Apparently the lot sits on the former site of the Charlotte raceway. He's been doing business with them since the early 70's and remembers it being driven around back then. A guy who went by "Uncle Dave" built it, but was no relation to the Allison family. Anyone happen to remember this little buggy?

From what I can tell, the body of the Bantam has been stretched onto a 1958 Austin Healey Bugeye chassis. Chassis and running gear seem stock Bugeye, aside from the straight pipe exhaust going to the flared end at the rollpan.

Overall pretty solid build quality. Very solid body, but definitely quite a bit of bondo under the old red oxide to smooth the seams.














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Well now we got a Bantum Truck guy here on the HAMB he'll just love this ( as if the rest of us don't )

 

Seen these used for advertising on pipes. Painted and lettered up. There is one in Leesburg Fl. Motor and trans were removed and the car hoisted up,, sometimes on a roof
Dingle

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That's cute as a bug!

 

Ha, there's actually two of us, Rich Fox has one. Rare trucks, only 500 or so made. RG....with the woody thread on here knows everything Bantam there is to know. Also there's been a guy PMing me every so often to sell mine, if you want to sell it I'll put you guys in touch. Does look pretty solid.

 

wow, that thing is cool, never would have guessed on the chassis!

 

Why do I automatically think about Pinocchio? HRP

 

Really interesting , thanks for posting, has the hood had a big stretch? I thought all Bantams were 75" wheelbase, quite a bit shorter than the Bugeye Sprite.

 

Looks like a miniature version of a Hudson pickup.
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Yep, big stretch. Mine stock wb.

 

Sprites and Midgets don't have a chassis or frame. They have a monocoque tub

 

I'm excited to learn more on here. I know little about Bantams, and even less about Austin Healeys. Should be a fun combo though.

Thanks for the offer. Planning to keep this one, at least for a while. Won't find another one of these haha

Its definitely stretched, I'll have to measure how much soon. The hood looks homemade, possibly made with a brake, and then spot welded to a set of hinges. There was only a front mount though, and nothing to hold the sides down. Looks like someone's project, that made it about 90% of the way.

 

A few more pictures...

 

Dove right into this project... Aside from lights and the key this thing is pretty much complete. Going through parts that need to be after 40 years of sitting.

Brakes are starting to come apart, gas tank is out (looks pretty rusty inside). Thinking up adapting a new one.



Came with three bumpers in the bed. I'm assuming the first two similar ones are stock Bantam pieces, but I'm not sure on the top one? Doesn't look like a stock Bugeye bumper either...



Goal on this resurrection is to be on the road in a month (or at least running/driving decent), with a budget of $1k. We'll see

 

future wheel stander for H.A.M.B. Drags

 

Neato!

 

That's a really neat find! The builder of this truck took a very interesting approach at doing so. He actually seems to have left the perimeter of the cowl which usually gets cut off when these get hotrodded. It also appears to have an original Bantam radiator for the 5.5 Quart cooling system. The middle bumper in the photos looks to be an original Bantam 4 hole piece which would have been used primarily as a front bumper from mid-38 onward.

Enjoy the truck and post some follow ups so we can see it come together!

Also, take a look for Greg here, he really knows these things inside and out. He has the v860 in a roadster thread showing the build of his car.

Blowby, thank you for the nice words!

 

different and cool... keep us posted.

 

Shaun1162, do you remember when Ripley Machine in Portsmouth had a show room full of Bantams? They used to shorten driveshafts for our race cars. I think the old man has passed on but maybe the son still has the cars? There was a stock pickup in the mix as I remember. Neat truck!

 

The builder definitely took his time, and put a lot of thought and ingenuity into this little pickup. I'm surprised how intact the body is. It seems to be the original Bantam honeycomb radiator. Not sure how well it will work with the Austin engine since it's for non-pressurized system?

Thanks for identifying the bumper, now to figure out what the other two are? Hmm..

I'll be sure to keep this thread updated, and will be on the lookout for other Bantam owners. Looks like some other neat Bantams on here!

Thanks! Afraid that was before my time, but that's a good lead. Thankfully it really doesn't need much, just to go through it and lights/bumpers.

 

A little progress so far this week...

Have the engine turning over via the switch (never seen a pull cable solenoid before). My tires arrived- was thinking of classic bias, but these radials were 4 for the price of one. They'll work for now. Mounted two, and cleaned up the AH hubcaps.



Anyone have headlight and taillight advice?




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For tail lights, I'd probably put them in the rear pan to break up that long flat surface.

Easiest way for head lights might be something with towers, like 35/6 Ford PU's, but you'd probably want something a bit smaller to keep the streamed lined look of the frontend...maybe headlight that look like "spears" on the stands?...something about 8inches or so long?

 

A little progress...

Got it running Saturday afternoon... A new distributor, coil, plugs, and wires and it fired on the first turn. She wants to go.

Went to change the fuel pump, and found that a stock mechanical pump is out of the question. Somehow, the electric pump that someone bugged on, chugged away after sitting 40+ years.

Runs awesome, but the carbs need gaskets, and it needs a muffler for sure. A lot louder in person..




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Like a sewing machine...nice!

 

Sweet!
That's a very cool little truck. The cutout for the tailpipe is the nuts. Love it!

 

Shaun1162, Apologies, can't get the quote to work properly once I'd edited it. But the Bantam rad should be fine as long as the rad still has good water flow through the core.

This is an Austin A35 motor (the sedan version of your motor) in one of my cars. It uses a 1930 Austin Seven unpressurised rad which looks to be smaller than the Bantam rad, it works fine.



BTW, if your car is running without a thermostat, it's a good idea to fit one of these restrictor sleeves, stops the front of the motor overcooling while the rear of the motor runs too hot

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MGB-OR-B-...TAT-BLANKING-SLEEVE-KIT-AJJ4012-/182354978684

 

Neat little truck Shaun. by the way, is that the corner of Randy's garage in your avatar?

 

Mine from now. Health has stopped progress on this. It might be for sale. Still lots ts do on it. And mine from 55 years ago. When I actually could get into it.

 

Bed and parts. Bed and tail gate are new. New wood. Clear Ca