In the immediate post-war years, Jeep wanted to offer a larger truck to those customers needing more than the Willys Jeep Truck and DJ-3A/FJ-3A could do. So, evidently glancing at Europe, and at the then-new cab-over-engine full-size trucks, they came up with the Forward Control series. These were offered in various different formats to allow coachbuilders to add their own bodies, and the platform was used for ambulances, fire trucks, tow trucks, delivery vans, and more – just about anything you’d see on a modern COE truck or van platform today. Unfortunately, they were not very successful, with only 30,000 sold over eight years of production. You can find this 1959 Jeep FC-170 for sale in Sacramento, CA with an opening bid of $2350 and only 8 hours left to go.
Look back at the contemporary Morris J2. While you’d never mistake one for the other, there are some remarkable similarities. This Jeep appears to be nicely aged, but does not have the level of rust the Morris had. Can we get through this entire post without mentioning things like “first at the scene of an accident”, “you are the crumple zone”, etc.? Oh, wait… crap.
The bed is very basic, not surprising for a vehicle that was meant to be converted. Besides receiving a six-cylinder engine, FC-170s were also 34 inches longer than their junior FC-150 brothers. In contrast to its competitors, the Jeep FC was sold with four wheel drive, making it appealing for working in poor conditions. Interestingly, once production ended in North America, they were built in India and Spain. In fact, it appears the Indian Mahindra version was built until 2005, so perhaps this helps with parts availability.
As you’d expect, the interior is fairly basic. Luckily, that should make bringing it back to life fairly straightforward. You can see the shifter, which suggests this is the 4-speed Borg-Warner T-98 and not the Ford-supplied 3-speed Cruise-O-Matic, all the better to wring as much power as possible from the engine. Aside from the seats, which look to have been vandalized long ago, the rest of the interior could probably be spruced up with a rattle can.
This truck seems to be an FC-170, although the fact there seem to be 7 plug wires (plus the coil wire) is a little confusing. The engine would have been the Super Hurricane L-head inline six, although with only 105hp to move this heavy vehicle, a more apt name would have been the Super Tropical Storm. Perhaps an upgrade with a modern turbo-diesel from a newer box van would be an improvement in reliability and power?
Rusty But Trusty 
January 16, 2014 at 2:11 pm |
super gentle breeze