On Saturday, 13 August 2016, Bob Christy took his 1953 CJ-3B over to Toledo from his home in Green, Ohio, where he is also starting preparations for the 2016 Northern Ohio Flatfender Cruise-In on 11 September. He was headed for the first annual Toledo Jeep Fest.
Bob had the 3B loaded on the trailer on Friday. His Jeep had been featured in the Toledo Blade in the week leading up to Jeep Fest.
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Organizers wanted the classic Jeep display in place in the SeaGate Center in downtown Toledo on Friday, and Bob found his spot.
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A number of the vehicles from the Omix-ADA Jeep Collection had been brought up from Georgia, and the Omix-ADA blue Surrey was joined by Ron Szymanski's 1960 Surrey from Toledo and Michael Wierda's Pepsi Surrey from Michigan. The Pepsi Surreys are unique for their yellow striped upholstery.
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A collection of military Jeeps in the middle of the convention center was joined by the recent Wrangler Salute concept from Fiat/Chrysler/Jeep.
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Pink on pink! The Pink Panther, licensed by Owens Corning, has become almost as much a symbol of Toledo as the Jeep itself.
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Saturday morning the crowd showed up. With showers off and on, many of the people headed downtown for the 11:00 Jeep parade came inside the SeaGate Center for the displays and the opening ceremony, seen here.
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Bill Norris of the Norris-Banonis Group was on hand with his CJ-2A and a display promoting the Holy Toledo! calendar and the latest issue of The Dispatcher.
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This early CJ-2A Fire Engine is a 1945 with column shift. It was bought by Richfield Township near Toledo in 1947 for $1,100, and was in service until 2007.
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The Toledo Firefighters Museum has preserved this FC-170 Howe fire truck, which was one of three owned by Libbey-Owens-Ford glass company. See more details in Howe Jeep FC Fire Engines on CJ3B.info.
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And a cool surprise to round out the firefighting Jeep display was a CJ-5 brushfire conversion from New Richmond.
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Meanwhile, among the Jeeps arriving for the parade outside, was the perfect vehicle for the Fire Chief who wants to get there fast -- a 1948 Jeepster with a V-8 (250K JPEG).
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With an estimated 40,000 people on hand for the parade, space on the street and the sidewalk was hard to find.
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The original plan was to line the Jeeps up in chronological order from oldest to newest, but with over 800 vehicles registered, the organizers gave up on that idea.
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But military Jeeps were at the head of the parade.
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The parade route started right in front of Fifth Third Field, home of the Toledo Mud Hens.
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Bob got a shot of this built-up CJ-3B with a V-6 -- anybody know who owns this?
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The only other high hood Bob spotted at the event was a Mitsubishi -- maybe Emmett Lodge's J53 which I saw in June at the Bantam Jeep Heritage Festival?
Thanks to Bob for the photos. Sounds like Jeep Fest was pretty good for a first annual, and I hope it returns next year. Bob thinks it could be a two-day event. -- Derek Redmond
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