Invention of the Jeep. In September 1940 a team headed by Karl Probst delivered to the U.S. Army a prototype for the World War II jeep. This small, four-wheel drive vehicle was produced by the American Bantam Car Co., located one block east. Here, Bantam manufactured 2,675 jeeps. Although larger companies ultimately received the chief wartime orders, it was Bantam--in cooperation with the Army--that originally created the jeep.