Sitting about 35 miles north of Pittsburgh, Pa., is a small city named Butler that was once, back in 2012, named the 7th best small town in America by Smithsonian magazine.
It is a place filled with manufacturing and railroad car history. A proud place. Artillery and naval shells were produced there in staggering amounts during WWII. The New York Yankees once fielded a minor league team at the local stadium. But while all those things revolved around the town, they eventually withered away into the mists of that history, and something else rose up to stamp its legacy onto the place.
The American Austin Car Company.
You may better recognize it as the American Bantam Car Company, and if you know the history of Jeep then you know all about Bantam. How the company created the first Jeep to overcome any terrain, which eventually morphed into the phenomenon it is today.
And this weekend, you can experience all that history and more at the 7th annual Bantam Jeep Heritage Festival.
Held from June 9-11 at the Cooper’s Lake Campground, as well as downtown Butler, this major event will see more than 2,300 Jeeps and 15,000 people flock to the area to celebrate the birthplace of Jeep and its historical significance. In fact, Bantam currently holds the Guinness World Record for ‘Largest Parade of Jeeps’ with 2,420 set on June 12, 2015.
Quadratec, once again, is a presenting sponsor at Bantam this year and is also sponsoring the event’s popular Jeep Playground and mud pit area at the campground. This special activity area is open each day and allows people to ride their Jeeps up piles of dirt, crawl over rocks, tires and concrete obstacles, maneuver around poles and cross over bridges.
The Playground is designed for both stock and modified Jeeps, and is usually the busiest on Saturday from 11-3, so definitely plan accordingly. That way you will spend more time having fun and less time waiting in line. One other note, the mud pit area will be closed each day from 12-1 for repair.
Quadratec will also set up shop at the campground and offer plenty of great merchandise as well as special show discounts. Many popular vendors will be in attendance as well to answer questions, including AEV, Skyjacker, Teraflex, Rugged Ridge, Omix-ADA, Jeep Tweaks, BFGoodrich, Volant, Bestop, Bartact, Rigid, JKS, Optima, Mile Marker, Steer Smarts, Ace Engineering, River Raider, Fishbone, Painless, Maximus-3 and Synergy.
Besides the Jeep playground and vendor area, the Bantam Jeep Heritage Festival offers something for just about everyone, and in 2017 has more new activities than ever before.
The Jeeps on the Rock Trail Ride is an off-site, stock-friendly ride that features a four-mile off-road experience and is perfect for those who want to participate in a mildly adventurous activity that doesn’t require special off-road equipment.
Another new event is called the Babes of Bantam Trail Ride, an activity sculpted just for the ladies. Female drivers will learn off-road skills and techniques from experienced female off-roaders, as they maneuver over stock-friendly obstacles on a trail and the Jeep Playground.
These events are all in addition to other exciting Jeep activities, including on-site trails, Jeep Invasion, Best of Bantam show, Mystery Road Rally, Glacial Interpretive Driving Tour and more.
Like we said before though, Bantam oozes history and does a great job honoring its Jeep heritage through the festival. This year, Bantam's History Exhibit pays homage to great Jeep vehicles from the 1960s while also telling the story of how Jeep was born in Butler, and provides a rarely known perspective on how Bantam won and lost the contract to build the vehicle that helped America win World War II.
Daily admission for spectators is $10 for adults, $3 for children ages 3-12 and free for children under 2. Passengers with registered participants pay $20 for adults, $10 for children ages 7-17 and free for children under 7. Slots are still open for some activities. For further information on all the great events in Butler this weekend, check out our full Bantam page here.
