Jeeps of all shapes, sizes come to Butler
Bantam. Willys. CJ. Renegade. Wagoneer. Rubicon. Jeepster. Scrambler. Cherokee. Golden Eagle. Renegade. Gladiator. Comanche.
The names are legendary in Jeep lore and all were represented in stock, restored and modified versions among the thousands of Jeep vehicles that occupied Main Street in downtown Butler during the Jeep Invasion, Friday's highlight of the eighth annual Bantam Jeep Heritage Festival.
In addition to their model nameplates, some of the Jeeps carried personalized names such as Purple Dragon, Mud Cricket, Hog Wild, Nightmare, Zombie Hunter, Frankenstein and Curb Crawler.
Most of the Jeeps came from Pennsylvania, but vehicles from Canada, Florida, Chicago, New York and Florida also joined the invasion.
Ralph Ruppert brought his 1962 Willys Jeep Truck from his home in Akron, Mich.
He said he has brought one of his three other classic Jeep trucks to the last five festivals, but this year is the '62's turn.
The red and white pickup truck is fresh off a two-year restoration that returned it to what it looked like before it spent its younger years hauling a tank of fertilizer that was sprayed on farm fields, Ruppert said.
“It was a fertilizer truck. It took me two years to do it,” Ruppert said.The engine wasn't running when he bought it about seven years ago, so he planned to use it as a parts donor for his other trucks, but plans change.“Once I got the engine running I figured I'd do the rest. We tried to keep it as close to original as we could,” Ruppert said. “So far it's doing all right.”Reid and Patty Campbell of West Sunbury brought their unrestored 1962 Mighty Mite, which was made for the U.S. Marine Corps by AMC.Only 4,000 Mighty Mites were made, he said. They have aluminum engines and bodies.“This is a brother or sister of the Jeep. We found it sitting in front of a junk yard in Ohio. We've owned it 15 years,” Reid Campbell said. “This is the way it was.”Through research, Campbell said he learned the vehicle might have been used at an Air Force base in Vietnam and it was designed by engineers who previously worked at Bantam.
J.R. Rivera of Niagara Falls, N.Y., brought his 1976 CJ-7 with a custom paint job featuring a mural of his favorite Latin music artists on the underside of the hood.“These are all the Latin musicians I grew up with,” said Rivera, a native of Puerto Rico.He said he spent 10 years on modifications including installing a 350-cubic-inch Chevrolet engine.Nadine and Joe Kolbosky of Greensburg drove their low-mileage, original 1982 Jeep Wagoneer Limited to the invasion.“My husband bought it in 1981. It has not quite 26,000 miles.” Nadine Kolbosky said. “We bought it to hunt. It's had a lot of deer on it.”The big four-door SUV sports its original faux wood grain siding.“I put Pledge on with a rag and rub it down. I use a soft sock to rub it in,” she said, about maintaining the shine.The couple has brought their Wagoneer to every festival.
“This is why we bring it. For people to enjoy,” she said.Jeff Dorko of Jeannette also brought a 1962 Willys pickup truck, which is his favorite among the six Jeeps he owns.He said he takes the truck off-roading and doesn't treat it like a show truck.“I drive the hell out of it,” he said.“There are three (Willys trucks) here like this. They're all nicer than mine,” Dorko said.The truck's original six-cylinder engine blew up a couple weeks after he bought it six years ago, so he replaced with a 1968 Chevy 283 cubic-inch engine.He said he has brought some of his other Jeeps to previous festivals.“This is my eighth year. I've been here very year,” Dorko said.
