Vintage Jeeps on display again at annual festival
WORTH TWP — An old Jeep sat dormant in his grandfather’s backyard for years.
Valencia resident James Linn, with the help of his father, Chester, brought it back to life.
“My grandfather died in 1978. I was 12, and I remember that old Jeep sitting out there. I was curious about it, and my dad took the Jeep,” Linn recalled. “My dad brought it to his own backyard and after he retired, he decided to restore it.
“We found another old Jeep we were going to use for parts, but besides needing some engine and floor work, we found it to be pretty much rust-free. We decided to keep that one and accumulated parts from other sources.”
It took a little more than a year, but Linn wound up with his grandfather’s vehicle, a 1948 CJ-2A Jeep. His father now has six Jeeps.
Linn’s 1948 Jeep will be on display at the Jeep History Exhibit as part of the Bantam Jeep Heritage Festival at Cooper’s Lake Campground Friday to Sunday, June 13 to 15.
“It was a good project for my dad and I, something we did together,” Linn said of restoring the 1948 Jeep. “I never met my grandfather, so it’s nice that I own something like this that belonged to him.”
Linn takes his sons for rides in the vehicle, saying “the boys love it. They have dirt bikes and work on their own stuff. I’m a big gearhead myself.”
Linn’s Jeep will be one of numerous vintage Jeeps on display at the exhibit. A couple from New Middletown, Ohio — Kent and Kelsey Hilderbrand — will be managing the exhibit this year.
They are taking over for previous manager Bill Ringeisen, who will be out of town during this year’s festival.
“We have close to 20 Jeeps right now,” Kelsey said. “We look for Jeeps from the 1970s or older. It’s amazing what’s out there. We bought an older Jeep about eight years ago and my husband rebuilt it.
“We had Jeeps before that because we were into trail riding. But this is a whole different level.”
Vintage Jeeps in the exhibit are found through other car shows or Jeep events, along with word-of-mouth and Facebook.
Longtime attendees of the festival, the Hilderbrands started volunteering to help with the history exhibit a couple of years ago.
“We’ve always been big Jeep people,” Kent said. “We saw this event on Facebook one year and decided to check it out. We had the ability to volunteer, saw the benefits like getting a trail pass that go along with it, so that’s what we decided to do.”
The Hilderbrands own three vintage Jeeps — a 1942 Ford World War II Jeep, a 1975 CJ-5 Jeep and 1978 CJ-7 Jeep.
“The 1942 Jeep found me,” Kent said. “I was scrolling through Facebook, and it showed up.”
The purchase set him back $1,200. Then came the real cost.
“The cost comes in rebuilding and restoring it,” Kent said. “What we spent on parts was $12,000 or less. You can spend $20,000 or more, depending on what you want to do with it.”
When it comes to the exhibit itself, Kent said: “We like Jeeps with their original stuff intact. It shows the history, how far they’ve come.”
Linn said he’s seen all types of Jeeps, including a Jeep Zamboni and delivery truck, over the years.
“We enjoy going to shows, talking to owners of Jeeps,” Linn said. “This is our eighth year or so of going to the Jeep festival. People at the (Jeep history) museum are always willing to talk to you
“Now, my Jeep will be on display in that museum. I’m excited about that.”
