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Jeep Parade and Fest Draws Thousands to Downtown Toledo
Sojourner’s Truth Staff
The Toledo affair with
Jeep began 75 years ago – in 1941 – when Willys Overland
engineered the military transport vehicle that contributed
to the mighty U.S. mechanized force in World War II. The
U.S. Army, in fact, was the only fully mechanized army
during that conflict.
On Saturday, August 13,
Toledoans were treated to a 75-year celebration of their
long connection with the vehicle that became a civilian
automobile after the war ended. Over 800 Jeeps of all years,
colors, models and sizes participated in Saturday’s parade
along Huron Street that brought thousands of viewers from
all over the northwest Ohio, southeast Michigan area.
The event also offered
Jeep shows, vendors, live music, beer stands, food trucks
and children’s games.
Apparently every model
year – from 1941 to 2016 – of Jeeps was represented during
the parade and the shows.
The first Jeep plant
produced nearly 370,000 military vehicles during the war.
Today the Toledo plant employs 5,100 people and produces
more than a half million units per year.
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