The vehicle that started it all. The BRC pilot car from which all Jeeps descend.

The Bantam Jeep Festival is a huge deal, and if you are a Jeep fanatic, this is the place to be in June, 2015. Held in Butler, Pennsylvania, the home of Bantam, the Festival attracts thousands of visitors and Jeeps of all vintage every year. This year there are two especially good reasons to be in Butler from the 12th to the 14th of June. It’s not only the 75th Birthday Bash for the Jeep, but the world’s original “pilot” Jeep will be on hand.

The original pilot vehicle, called the Bantam Reconnaissance Car (BRC) was created by Butler’s American Bantam Car Company, and was destroyed during Army testing. Fortunately for Jeep lovers, Duncan Rolls of Texas painstakingly re-created the BRC between 2004 and 2008. The BRC is the vehicle that all future Jeep models were based on. “I became interested in Jeeps as a boy watching World War II movies, then began restoring World War II Jeeps for fun,” said Rolls. “I eventually became interested in the origin of the Jeep. Thirty years later, I decided to re-create the Bantam Reconnaissance Car after much research and what I thought was a reasonable budget. While it only took the American Bantam Car Company 49 days (approximately 1,200 hours) to produce their Jeep, it took me 3,500 hours of my spare time over four years.”

The pilot will be accompanied by approximately 12 rare Jeeps from the 1940s, six provided from the private collection owned by Omix-ADA. These include a Bantam BRC-40, Willys MA, Ford GP, a Willys CJ-2A fire truck, and the Ford GPA, a Jeep that can swim. “Having the pilot here for the 75th Birthday Bash, along with the Willys MA and Ford GP, is a gift for every Festival attendee. Jeep and car enthusiasts alike will want to take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime chance to see these rare Jeeps together,” said Patti Jo Lambert, Festival director.

In celebration of the Bantam’s birthday, the Festival is planning to beat its own Guinness World Record for the Largest Parade of Jeeps on Friday, June 12 at 2:30 p.m. Plans are for the first 75 Jeeps in the parade to collectively represent all 75 years of Jeeps. Organizers expect up to 2,500 Jeeps to participate. Sounds like our kind of party. Will you be there? Check out the Bantam Jeep Heritage Festival website for all the details.