Gray grew up in Coraopolis, PA, and Butler County, PA. At the onset of WWII, the U.S. government sent out a call for a prototype car that could haul soldiers and artillery pieces and be presented within 49 days. The American Bantam Car Company in Butler, PA, promised to deliver a protoype in 45 days, securing the contract. The prototype was known as the Bantam Reconnaisance Car, or BRC. The prototype was driven to Camp Holabird in Maryland on September 23. After testing the car for 30 days, the Army was satisfied with its capabilities, but eventually gave the blueprints to larger companies as Bantam couldn't keep up with the Army's demand. Of the 600,000 Jeeps produced for World War II, 2,675 of them were produced in Butler County by Bantam and the prototype Jeep produced by the company would go on to inspire numerous other vehicles used by the military and civilians.