Jeeps on parade: Owners gather to kick off heritage festival
Proud, passionate Jeep owners traveled from far and near to Butler to join with like-minded enthusiasts for Friday's Jeep Parade and Jeep Invasion, which kick off the three-day, 10th annual Bantam Jeep Heritage Festival.
More than 1,000 Jeep vehicles of all types and vintages paraded down Main Street before parking to let the huge crowd get a close-up look.
Badged with legendary names like Renegade, CJ-5, CJ-7, Wrangler, Cherokee, Rubicon, Gladiator, Comanche, Willys and Golden Eagle, some Jeeps were stock, some were modified, some were muddy and some were shiny.Many owners labeled their Jeeps with names like Heavy Metal, Mid-Life Crisis, Warthog, Maximus, Shock-N-Awe, Predator, Franken Jeep, Rock Lobster, Sasquatch and the Barefoot Mudslinger Zombie Tactical Unit.BoBo Smith brought his restored 1979 CJ-7 Golden Eagle from his home in Orangeburg, S.C., to enjoy the festival for the first time and see Butler, where the Bantam Jeep was born in 1940.Built while American Motors Corp. owned the Jeep name from 1970 to 1986, the CJ-7 Golden Eagle is one of several Jeeps that Smith owns.“I have five of these things. It's kind of habit forming. I enjoy messing with them,” Smith said.The Golden Eagle option package includes gold colored wheels, an eagle decal on the hood, pin striping and other features. Smith's jeep has the highly desirable 304-cubic-inch V-8 engine.
His other Jeeps include a Korean War era vehicle, a 1972 Jeep he inherited, and 1974 and 1978 models. He said he is in the process of restoring the 1978 Jeep.Smith said he and his wife have attended other Jeep events, but she didn't want to go on the long ride to Butler. He said he is staying at Coopers Lake Campground for the entire weekend festival.A crowd of people gathered around Charles McEwuen's rare 1968 M-725 Jeep ambulance, which was built for the 339th General Hospital Army Reserve unit from Pittsburgh. He said only 3,000 M-725s were built from 1967 to 1969.“It might be the rarest vehicle here,” said McEwuen of Morgantown, W.Va.Like what happens at most events where he takes the truck, children took turns climbing into the back of the behemoth.“Over the years, I've had about 10,000 kids in there,” McEwuen said.He restored the ambulance and has owned it for 15 years.“It didn't look like this when I got it,” he said.McEwuen drove the ambulance from his home, where his collection includes a 1946 Jeep and a Dodge military truck. He said he has attended the Bantam festival every year.
“This is a good event. I'm glad the powers that be in Butler put this together. It gets like minded people together,” he said.Tyler Pelich of Madison, Ohio, brought his highly modified 1955 Willys CJ-3B to the festival with his buddy, Brian Mallick, who helped build the creation at his shop All Extreme, also in Madison.The Jeep's frame and body were stretched 12 inches. The vehicle sports a custom, lifted off-road suspension, a four-cylinder Cummins diesel engine, 37-inch tires, King coil over shocks and other specialty equipment.“It took us 18 months to put it all together,” Pelich said. “We finished about a month ago.”He said he wanted to attend the festival last year, but his Jeep wasn't finished and the event was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He and Mallick are staying for entire weekend.Adam Waser brought his restored and modified 1988 Comanche from his home in Youngstown, Ohio.The 40-year-old said he bought his first Jeep when he was 17 years old and estimated that he has owned 22 Jeep vehicles over the years. He currently owns four.“My basement is filled with parts,” Waser said.He said he fell in love with the small pick-up truck due to its reliability and off-road toughness.The truck's original 4-liter straight six cylinder engine has been stroked to 4.7 liters.One of the few Jeeps at the festival that wasn't designed for off-road use is a 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT owned by Andrew Trey of North Huntingdon.The 392-cubic-inch engine produced 475 horsepower in its original form. The supercharger Trey installed pushes the horsepower to over 700, he said.“I love the Jeep show. I love talking to people about it,” he said.
