Iconic grilles will fill 'Faces of Jeep' exhibit
The Faces of Jeep exhibit is growing.
Last year the new exhibit featuring Jeep grilles of the 1940s and 1950s was unveiled in the Jeep History exhibit. The exhibit is growing in 2017 with the addition of four new grilles from the 1960s.
The exhibit is the brainchild of Bill Ringeisen, Jeep History Exhibit manager.
“The Jeep’s grille is one of the things that make it so popular,” he said. “We eventually hope to have all of the walls of the exhibit filled with grilles from nearly every Jeep model.”
Each grille is presented by individuals, organizations or companies and plans are already under way to obtain grilles for 2018 when the 1970s will be featured. The festival is seeking others to present the new grilles. For more details, email info@bantam.org.
Following are the grilles on display — and those who made each grille possible:
1940s
Bantam Pilot — Heritage Region Jeep Alliance (HRJA)
BRC-60 — Wagner Truck Equipment
BRC-40 — Rodney Schaffer, Tom Lavorini and Jim Bob Donze
Willys Quad — Mark and Kristin Gaydosh
Willys MA — Wayne Kovac, Patti Jo Lambert and Charles Pro
Willys slat grille — The Grille Guy: Chris Rutherford
Willys MB — Marcia Ringeisen
Ford Pigmy — Fairground Market
Ford GP — Speedpro Imaging
Ford GPW — Bill Ringeisen
Early CJ2A — Flat Fender Club of Butler & Butler Old Stone House Region AACA
Jeepster (flat) — KaiserWillys.com
1950s
M38 — Bradley Ringeisen
M38-A1 — Airquest Aviation
CJ-3A — Golf Carts Unlimited
CJ-3B — General Rental Center and 3WaysToStore.com
CJ-5 — Elliott’s Tire Service
Jeepster (Point) — Classic Ink
1960s
Gladiator — Caldwell Energy Options, LLC
Wagoneer — Wagner Trucking
Jeepster Commando — Ron Lewis Automotive
M-715/M-724/M-726 — The Oswald family.
