Category: Announcements

Why is Jeep fundamental to Toledo and its people? This year, the Toledo Lucas County Public Library is helping to answer that question as the official Toledo Jeep Fest History Sponsor. Check out the library’s Jeep: It’s a Toledo Thing section to see the incredible images of Jeep history including the iconic vehicles and the amazing people who designed, built, tested and drove them.

Learn about the comparatively small automotive company – Willys-Overland – that developed and improved upon the initial design for the Jeep, creating a solid and durable military asset that won the U.S. Army’s favor.   

Read about a Toledo soldier’s account of a lifesaving maneuver in a Jeep.

See how Willys-Overland continued to produce combat-ready Jeeps after the war and how they modified and converted the Jeep for farming, firefighting, snow removal and many other tasks. Is there anything that the Jeep can’t do?

Birth of the Jeep

Toledo Jeep history begins in 1941 when Bantam won a significant United States Military contract to design a four-wheel drive utility vehicle that was manufactured throughout World War II. Dana is credited as a co-inventor of the Jeep, along with the U.S. Army, Bantam, Ford, and Willys-Overland. Willys contracts to build military Jeeps for the war and produces about 360,000 vehicles by 1945.

Today, both the iconic Jeep Wrangler and the Jeep Gladiator are being produced in Toledo. The Stellantis Toledo Assembly Complex is one of the region’s largest and most modern manufacturing plants. For more than 80 years, Jeep has been touching the lives of Toledoans and during the weekend of August 4-6, the city will celebrate that rich history.

History Continues

Explore Toledo Lucas County Public Library’s Digital Collections to see more from their Jeep archive. Have you ever seen a Jeep snug in its shipping crate, or Jeeps awaiting delivery at the Rossford Ordinance Depot, Jeeps fording the Maumee River or aerial photos of the Willys-Overland facility?

Our official Toledo Jeep Fest History Sponsor Toledo Lucas County Public Library is a great resource and Toledo Jeep Fest will be updating and highlighting great moments in Jeep history throughout the year.

We’re excited to announce: This year, Toledo Jeep Fest (TJF) is bringing back our popular silent auction! It will take place online from now through Friday, August 4 at 12 p.m., and then the bidding will continue in the Glass City Center located at 400 Jefferson Avenue in person until 3 p.m. Winners of the following silent auction items will be announced on Saturday, August 5 at 4 p.m. on the Convention Center stage and on ToledoJeepFest.com the following week.

We invite you to bid on the amazing products and gift cards that TJF sponsors and vendors have provided to our one-of-a-kind auction.

Rules of the road are simple:

• Enter your silent auction bid: You’ll be required to enter some basic contact information.
• Minimum bids: TJF staff have placed minimum bids (generally at 50 percent of the item’s fair market value) on raffle items.
• Final bids: Must be made by 3 p.m. on August 5 in person at the Glass City Center.
• Bids: Are not permitted to be altered or withdrawn once they have been made.
• All sales final: There are no exchanges or refunds once the winner claims their prize via payment.
• No refunds after purchase. Guests are responsible for item(s) once they’re claimed.
• Limits may apply: Gift cards or certificates are subject to availability and “black-out” dates.
• Winner notification: The winner of each silent auction item will be notified and contacted by email and phone on August 7th. At this time, the winner’s bid will be processed via credit card only over the phone, and the auction item will be awarded/redeemed by the winner that same day.

** If TJF staff are not able to reach the winner within a week, you will forfeit your win and the next highest bidder will be notified.

Thanks for your support and happy bidding!

Jeep fans know that Willys-Overland Motors did an incredible job of producing 361,406 Jeeps in Toledo during World War II. Former President and General Dwight Eisenhower once said that “The Jeep, the Dakota, and the Landing Craft were the three tools that won the war.”

But did you know that Willys-Overland also produced a long list of essential war material including the first cruise missile?

Willys-Overland manufactured the JB-2 Loon, which was the American reverse engineered copy of the German V-1 “Buzz Bomb.”  Willys was the only manufacturer of the 1,292 produced. The JB-2 Loons were being produced for use in the planned invasion of Japan. Republic Aircraft had the contract for the airframe and Ford built the engine. However, Willys-Overland was then subcontracted to build the airframe because of its capacity to manufacture in high volume. The Willys-built JB-2 can be seen on display at The Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia, which is part of the National Air and Space Museum.

Willys-Overland, and its hard-working Toledo area workers, also produced:

• (4,344,160) 155mm shells
• (3,374) Breech Housings and Recoil Cylinders for 1.1 inch anti-aircraft guns
• (78,735) 1/4 and 1 Ton Cargo Trailers
• (415) Powder and Projectile Hoists for US Navy ships
• (253,072,519) 40mm Primers and Parts
• (2,000,460) 20mm Shells
• (6,096) Grumman F6F Landing Gears
• (849) Carburetor Air Scoops for Curtiss-Wright
• (3,605) C-46 Wing Fuel Tanks
• (37,500) Bomb Cluster Shipping Bands
• (1,087,277,247) .30 and .50 bullet cores
• (3,731) Vought F4U Wing Center Sections
• (1,292) JB-2 Airframes

So when you are driving or watching the All-Jeep Parade, think about some of the distant cousins to your modern Wranglers and Gladiators.

We encourage you to check out David D. Jackson’s historical work on Willys-Overland and the automotive industry as well as the work of Jeep historian Ron Szymanski of Toledo, Ohio.