You recognize that cab, no doubt. It’s from the Willys pickup, like this one here. But look closely at the tailgate, and you’ll see the letters F O R D spelled out proudly. And the front fenders and bed are nothing like the US Willys of yore. This is a Brazilian Ford F-75, shot and posted by Alberto Simon.
The Willys station wagon started its second life in Brazil in the 1950s as the Rural, and the pickup, named F-75, came along in about 1961. The new front end styling dates to about 1960 or so. The Rural and F-75 were powered by versions of the F161 Hurricane engine, an F-head evolution of the small Willys flathead six (161 C.I). In Brazil, in addition to the original 2600 (161), with two one-barrel carbs and 130 hp, there was later also a 3000 (3 liter) version with a longer stroke and two-barrel carb making 140 hp and 161 lb.ft. of torque.
Ford took over Kaiser’s Brazilian operations in 1967. In 1975, Ford dropped the old Willys sixes and switched its engines to Ford’s modern SOHC 2.3 L four. The Rural and F-75 were kept in production until about 1983.
WOW, I “thought” I had seen all the oddball Ford stuff ,,, then this.
I like this a lot! Be a very cool ride here in the US. You would have to be somewhat of an extrovert to own it. As everyone would bombard you with questions when you stopped for gas, or at Wallymart, or at stop lights or,etc 🙂
Weird! So any guesses what year this truck was built?
What an awesome-looking truck, I want one! That’s just my style.
+1
Question:
So, IKA (Kaiser of Argentina)/Renault, did they continue to make the Jeep Pickup & Wagon at the same time that Ford was making them in Brazil?
It was first renamed F-75 five years after Ford’s acquisition of Willys do Brasil in 1967 (the name Kaiser was never used in Brazil, only in Argentina); before that it was Pick-Up Willys. The Rural was dropped in 1977 while the F-75 soldiered on until 1982. There was an extremely rare extended cabin version as well. Both 6 and later 4 cyl. were offered as options. Ford build it alongside its “own” pick-ups.
The very successful face-lift of 1960 was the work of Brooks Stevens, who also reskinned the Aero for 1963, following the same themes in the front grille.
Alberto, I really encourage you to become a contributor and post your exotic finds directly at CC. You have more information than I do, and they don’t have to be long, detailed write-ups; just the basics (or more, if you wanted to).
Hi Paul, I’ll do it sooner or later, but as I already wrote once, CC’s are very uncommon in Brazil, and I’d like to do it with my own pictures: It has been a few months since I last posted simply because I didn’t see ANY CC, or it was moving too fast sometime after dark; I really want to find some Aeros and a Rural, then I’d write more extensively about them, versprochen!
Here the very rare “cabine dupla” with a third door on the passengers’ side. I saw it only once, a cousin who was a geologist and used to work on faraway places had it, and he made sure I noticed his was no regular run-of-the-mill model.
Hi, Alberto. As Uruguayan, I’m acquainted with many Brazilian cars, either because they were sold in our market, or because tourists would come here with them.
I don’t know where you live, but close to the Uruguay/Brazil border, there are plenty of what could be termed “CC”. Then again, many have already been covered here. But you’ll always find new anecdotes for Chevettes, Fuscas (Brazilian VW Beetle), Brasilias, Fiat 147s…just to name the bottom line. For example, what about the downsized engine 1.0 liter cars? FNM / Alfa Romeo? And, cars like de Pé de Boi, Teimoso and other ultra-low-base? I know, it’s easy for me to ask in a few lines! Have a nice weekend.
I did a little checking and yes, the front of the 1960 Willys Rural was designed by Brooks Stevens, who did so many other projects for smaller companies like Kaiser Jeep and Studebaker. To my eye, Stevens did a very nice job of modernizing the Jeep design from the 40s.
It is interesting how Ford picked it up and ran with it with almost no changes. I also wonder why Kaiser Jeep decided not to sell this updated version here as a low-end “Jeep Classic”. A cool little truck.
Pretty sure Ford didn’t want to compete against its own F100 in the domestic market.
Ford was not involved in Kaiser Jeep until 1967 – the Stevens design saw use starting in 1960 in Brazil. The U.S. Wagoneer came along in 1963, so there would have been room for Kaiser to use the Rural front end on the older Jeep wagon and truck for several years. But Kaiser elected to let the old Jeep trundle along unaltered until about 1965 then let it die.
Neat looking rig .
? is the bed any larger inside that the usual step side beds ? it looks to be .
I love these Brazilian light trucks and wish I could get a Chevy with the wild styling and 261 CID i6 engine.
-Nate
There is at least one in the USA. I used to see a faded blue wagon on Duxbury (Ma) beach. It took a while to figure out what it was in the pre internet days, but we did.
In the early 90’s my parents moved to a small city at the coast of Bahia state and opened a restaurant at the beach. My father bought a blue Ford F-75, with stake bed and a surprisingly reliable and fuel efficient (for this kind of car) 2.3 OHC lima engine. We called it “Furiosa.” It was the perfect kind of vehicle to this situation, the F-75 is very tough and easy to repair. Unfortunately I was very young and don’t remember much of this car, in the second half of the decade my parents came back to our home town in Minas Gerais and my dad became a truck driver.
I recently traced its license plate and is still rolling, probably working in some coffee farm due the city where it’s registered
The F-75 was, at first, seen as a “lesser” truck (as it was) and then around early 90 as a desired affordable 4×4 vehicle for the many off road clubs around Brazil.
I saw many of them being literally destroyed while crossing the woods on the outskirts of my hometown.
Apparently now they have reached the “collectible” status.
So many neat rides in South America. My favorite is the Ford Corcel…whose 3 lug hubs give away it’s Renault R12 roots.
Less delighted with Stevens’ efforts on the Aero.