Local automobile club seeks to preserve Butler-built vehicles

BUTLER TWP — The display of artifacts and historical memorabilia kept inside the Butler-built garage on Barracks Road featured a new item for the open house on Sunday, Nov. 16: charred remains of the former Bantam Jeep building.

The Bantam Jeep building, believed to be the birthplace of the Jeep, was destroyed in a fire Sunday, Nov. 2. The building was demolished the following week, but the Butler Old Stone House Region chapter of the Antique Automobile Club of America was able to get a remnant for its collection.

“I found a place where the fire was burning the wood so hot that it was just floating in the air. This is what was left of the wood in that building,” John Pro, with the Butler Old Stone House Region chapter, said.

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