Vehicle restoration makes owners proud
While hundreds of Jeep owners will be getting their kicks outdoors on the trails at this weekend's 10th Bantam Jeep Heritage Festival, there will be plenty to see indoors as well.
Specifically, the event's history exhibit at Cooper's Lake includes several rare vehicles with local connections.
Bill Ringeisen, who oversees the history exhibit, expects to have upward of 18 Jeeps of various types and vintages on display in the 160-by-64-foot building. The exhibit also will feature a display of more than 30 Jeep grills through the years and a detailed rolling slideshow that provides an in-depth look at the Butler-based American Bantam Car Company and its connection to the Jeep legacy.
Dr. John Riley IV, a Butler native, will be among those whose Jeeps are featured in this year's history exhibit. Riley, a podiatrist who lived the Butler/Zelienople area until he was 18, is hauling his 1960 Willys pickup from his home in Overland Park, Kan., for the festival, which is back after a one-year hiatus because of COVID-19.
Riley's connection to the Jeep goes way back and it has only strengthened as the years have rolled by.“I learned to drive in a Wrangler,” he said. “I went to prom in a Jeep. All I've ever owned is Jeeps: probably 10 or 15 overall. I've always loved Jeeps and everything associated with them.“We lived out in the country growing up, and to get to our house you had to go up an incredibly steep half-mile hill. The only thing we found that could get up that hill was a Jeep. There was always a Jeep sitting in our driveway.”Riley enjoyed off-roading for years, but never got into restoring an off-road vehicle until about seven years ago. He'd been looking for an old Willys but hadn't had any luck until one day he was driving home from work and saw his prize.“Someone had just moved in, not a quarter-mile down the street from my house,” he said, “and he had two Willys pickups in the driveway.”Riley ran to the new neighbor's house and asked if he might be interested in parting with one of them. The man told him he had just placed an ad for one of them. Riley pounced on the opportunity and was the proud owner of a former U.S. Forest Service truck.
The truck, which came from Wyoming, was in relatively good shape for its age but still needed its share of work. Finally, after two years — one of which was spent waiting for a friend to complete the painting — the Willys was roadworthy.Riley admitted he got impatient at times waiting for the painting to be completed.“I'm a Type A,” he explained. “I knew it was going to take a while, but a year was definitely pushing the limits.”Riley has no difficulty explaining what he likes about his Willys pickup.“It's just the coolest Jeep,” he said. “Driving down the road, people are waving at you and honking at you. It's just fun. It's a blast to drive. And you don't see any of them.”Riley has put 2,500 miles on his Jeep since finishing the restoration about a year and a half ago.“It's not sitting there doing nothing,” he said.He hasn't been setting any land-speed records while traversing those 2,500 miles, but that's fine with him.“It's a Forest Service truck,” he said. “Its maximum speed is about 50 mph. It's not a highway car; it's not something you'd want to drive 500 miles in.”
Earl Easter doesn't mind taking his time, either, when it comes to driving his 1953 Willys 4x4 station wagon. And neither does Rusty Jebbia.Easter, a Butler resident who was born the same year his Jeep was produced, isn't afraid to take his vehicle anywhere, but he doesn't expect to get there quickly. In fact, he'll often take back roads to avoid holding up traffic, as its optimum speed is about 50 mph.“It'll run all day at 50,” said Easter, who has had his Jeep on display at several Bantam Jeep festivals and has won a pair of trophies in the process. “I've had it up to 70, but it'll start fighting itself and squawking at 60 or 65.”Jebbia, who lives in Wheeling, W.Va., said his 1945 Willys CJ-2A — one of only 1,800 or so manufactured in that model year — is powered by a 60-horsepower engine.“This little thing scoots,” he said. “It's not the most powerful thing out there, but it will go anywhere. You can push it to 55, but that little engine will be screaming when you do that. It's more comfortable at about 45 or 50.”What Jebbia's vehicle lacks in speed it makes up for in reliability. “I drive it regularly,” he said. “You just get in and turn the key, and you have to step on a starter button on the floor. It starts every time. It fires right up, and you just go.”
Jebbia's Jeep had several owners, including a former drag racer who used the vehicle to pick up parts while racing. Eventually, the Jeep ended up in a garage, where it sat for 17 years before it found its way to Jebbia, who has owned 18 Jeeps in his lifetime and currently has six.Easter bought his '53 Willys from a man in York five years ago. Originally it belonged to a farm family in Illinois, but passed through several families before landing in Butler.He did what he could in terms of the restoration, and had professionals take care of the rest with marching orders to use only original parts.“Everything done to it was done to originality,” he said.Easter has plans to sell his Willys to help pay for his daughter's college education, but in the meantime, he'll keep enjoying it. “It's kind of a fun vehicle,” he said. “We take it to different shows, or take it out for ice cream, and everyone blows their horn. I get a lot of compliments on it. It's kind of nice.”
