WORTH TWP — Jeeps are typically recognizable, but Mike Smith, of Ohio, brought a one-of-a-kind vehicle packed with family history for spectators to see at the Bantam Jeep Heritage Festival on Friday, June 7.

As attendees rode the trails, mingled or tried out the overhauled Jeep Playground at Cooper’s Lake Campground before the evening Invasion, Smith was in the Jeep History Exhibit, showing off “The Unicorn.”

Smith and his 1977 Jeep J10 extended cab truck both were making their first appearance at the festival, and were getting lots of attention from visitors.

“I knew it was rare, but I used to just store stuff in it,” he said of the vehicle, which was a prototype made by his grandfather when he worked for the American Motor Company in Toledo.

His grandfather was head of research and development for the company, Smith said, and came up with the idea for the two-door and four-door versions of the truck.

Unfortunately, Jeep decided not to go with his idea, as Smith said executives feared Ford had cornered the market.

“They should have ran this. Jeep would have had a home run,” he said. “This was scheduled to be crushed, and grandpa hid it for four years.”

Smith said the four-door version of the vehicle couldn’t be saved, but his grandfather stowed away the two-door version in a secluded wing of the factory in Toledo.

When his grandfather got a new boss in 1981, he bought the prototype for a dollar.

Smith said he inherited the vehicle after the death of his grandmother in 1997, and it took three and a half years to restore.

The Unicorn is a conglomeration of parts, Smith said. He quoted his grandfather, who said this prototype was made out of “all the stuff we already had.”

His grandfather’s original parking pass from the American Motor Company is on the windshield and back window, his Social Security number is stamped on a plaque under the hood, and “special” is painted on the frame, representing the cars status as a prototype.

Smith said he was happy to be invited to the festival this year, and was excited about the Jeep Invasion.

“We love the area,” he said of Butler County.

Smith wasn’t the only owner of a unique vehicle at the festival. Matt Amos, of Indiana, brought his Jeep A Trench, a 1966 CJ5 with equipment attached to dig trenches for farming or electrical work.

“We demonstrate it, we take it to different shows. A lot of these get scrapped,” he said.

Amos said this was his second time at the festival, and he was always happy to have conversations with other Jeep enthusiasts.

“You get to come and talk to people who know about Jeeps, but not that they made these,” he said of his vehicle. “It’s fun, that acknowledgment of each other and the addiction.”

Adam Schultz, of Wisconsin, was attending the festival with his group Epic Willys Adventures, a group people who own Willys model Jeeps built from years 1946 to 1964.

Schultz said they travel old school: with no GPS, phones or interstates to guide them. After attending the Invasion on Friday night, the group will make a trip they are calling “Moonshine Run” down to Pigeon Forge, Tenn.

“The downtown invasion is awesome. You get to see all those Jeeps in one place, tons of people,” he said.

The Jeep history building was not the only busy spot at Cooper’s Lake on Friday. Wranglers and Cherokees alike were testing out the overhauled Jeep Playground.

Christina Dietrick, director of the course, and her crew were coaching people through the obstacles, which included a mud pit, rock gardens and twisty dirt roads.

“We’ve had everyone come through here, even the tiny little cars,” she said.

She said one of the novelty attractions on the course is the Jeep teeter-totter, where drivers pull forward and try to balance before getting off. As of that afternoon, they had no riders successfully balance, or escape the mud pit.

Her favorite part of the course is seeing joy on the faces of those going through it.

According to volunteer Danielle Caltagirone, of Ohio, children and dogs will ride as passengers during the course.

“This is mostly stock Jeeps,” she said of the vehicles on the track. “It’s for people who are new to wheeling.”

Dietrick said she enjoys the camaraderie of the festival most of all.

“We’re a family,” she said of Jeep lovers. “Wherever you go, it don’t matter if you know that person or not.”

If you’re going

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SATURDAY

9 a.m. to 6 p.m. — Festival events at Cooper’s Lake Campground

SUNDAY

9 a.m. to 3 p.m. — Festival events at Cooper’s Lake Campground

ADMISSION: $10 for adults and $3 for children ages 3 to 12, per day, at Cooper’s Lake Campground