Wash the trail dirt off your hands and mark your calendars for Saturday, July 16. That’s when Omix-ADA, which describes itself as “the world’s largest independent manufacturer and wholesaler of Jeep® parts and accessories,” will hold its first Jeep Heritage Expo in Suwanee, Georgia to celebrate 75 years of Jeep vehicles.
Attendees will get to see inside Omix-ADA’s 230,000 square-foot facility and the more than 20,000 Omix-ADA, Rugged Ridge, and Alloy USA Jeep parts and accessories inside of it. Omix-ADA will also display its collection of more than 30 Jeeps, ranging from a 1946 Willys CJ-2A to a 1971 Jeepster Commando to a 2001 Cherokee.
If you enter your 1941-present Jeep in the Jeep Show & Shine contest, you can potentially win prizes and awards from Omix-ADA and know that all of your entry fee will benefit the American Diabetes Association. Only 250 vehicles can compete, so be sure you don’t miss your chance to take part in the competition.
Other activities at the Jeep Heritage Expo include remote control Jeep races, carnival games, and giveaways. Food trucks from the region will be on-site to feed everybody while all the Jeeps present will feed enthusiasts’ desires for more ideas of how to modify their vehicles.
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
