(first posted 2/23/2011) For a longtime lover of this vehicle, this is hot news indeed. Hemmingsblog has laid their hands on the original color photos of the Brooks Stevens designed 1958 Jeep FC-150 passenger van prototype, of which three were built by Reutter in 1958. Up until now, those afflicted with FC-150 fever had to do with mere black and whites. No longer. For those uninitiated in the cult of the Jeep FC truck that this was based on, follow me:
I’ll show you one more pic of the van; if you want to see the handsome interior, head over there yourself. This precursor to the modern compact van is based on a vehicle I’ve been eagerly keeping my eyes peeled for for a future CC. No luck so far, so I’ll improvise.
As we noted in the Jeepster Commando CC, Jeep desperately tried to find new market niches in the fifties beyond the CJ and Wagon. After the first Jeepster failed, designer Brook Stevens was inspired by the growing number of COE (cab over engine) big trucks, and took the bold step of adapting the concept to the chassis of the CJ. The result, the 1956 FC-150 (forward control) is a bit startling for its proportions. It looks so front heavy, and the CJ5’s ultra-short 81″ wheelbase and narrow track accentuated the effect. But it was unique…in its capabilities and looks.
Some of its unique capabilities included rolling forward end over end on steep downgrades when the brakes were applied. This is not a vehicle CR would approve.
The FC-150’s short 6.5′ bed was a bit limiting for serious ranch and off-road work, so a stretch job was undertaken: add 22″ inches to the wheelbase, and presto: the FC-170 was born. This puppy had a 9′ bed, which made the 170 unique in having a longer bed than its wheelbase (103″). Even dually versions were made, which were often converted into little off-road capable fire engines.
I knew a guy in Colorado who had sort of a hybrid of the two, call it an FC-160. It started out as a 150, but he replaced the gutless little 75 hp Hurricane F-head four with a Chevy small block V8. To accommodate it, he cut the frame and welded extensions on it. He took me an an awesome ride over rough old mining roads in it, and it made wonderful sounds from the crude home-made high pipes sticking up behind the cab like are those that all the rage now. That was in 1973, and when the FC really got under my skin (in the original meaning of that expression)..
Thanks for sharing this. I was aware that forward control Jeep trucks existed, but a 4wd forward control Jeep van (in the 1950s nonetheless!) is too amazing for words. Wonder how many would have been sold had they gone into general availability.
Love it. I’ve never seen one in person but if it weren’t for the fact that those suckers sell for “collector car” prices now, I’d love to have one as a winter beater/plow truck. Versitile little suckers.
I think I’d stick with a Gladiator, J-10 or C-101 Commando (had one). That thing just looks unstable as all get-out! It reminds me of the VW and Corvair versions, neither were ubiquitous, but oddities, for sure! An old friend had a 1951 Jeep Wagon, which was pretty cool back in the 70’s. He drove it to Montana when he got a job as a Forest Ranger and kept it for years.
Oh my. So much for any theories about Chris Bangle inventing repellent design.
The FC-170 is an example of why I still want a van cab (preferably the Sprinter) with a pickup bed on it…only the pickup bed is, say, 12′ long. Screw cargo weight, I want cargo volume!!!
I too share your Jeep FC love. I consider it the only American vehicle that looks so functional it could have been mistaken for Soviet.
Here’s one for you:
Where are those tail lights from…
Willys Aero?
Those back side doors are the same as the front doors, save on re-design ?
We had a long-bed Jeep FC when I was a kid. At some point in its life, someone had built stake sides for it, and we used it to haul firewood. My grandmother heated her house with a wood stove, so the amount of wood you split and hauled was directly proportionate to how much you loved Gramma.
Dad would drive the thing out into the woods, and a couple of kids would fight over who got the passenger seat and who had to sit on the gigantic slippery doghouse between the seats. We would load the bed with split wood all the way to the top of the stake sides and then creep home.
As far as I can remember, the Jeep never had much in the way of mechanical troubles and never once got stuck, even though my father never met an off-road obstacle he wouldn’t try to climb. We even used it more than once to pull stuck tractors out of various neighbor’s fields. One time I buried an Allis-Chalmers (with full manure spreader attached!) up to the axles in the field. The Jeep yanked me free and didn’t even break a sweat, without unhooking the spreader!
I’d trade a brace of Escalades and three Durangos for one FC170 right now.
A few years late, but Commando1’s challenge has me wondering..
I give up, where are those tail lights from?
When I was 10, 40 years ago, we had an FC that the body had been taken off and replaced with diamond plate. It had a pto winch mounted midship, and big airplane tires. It had been used on the Oregon dunes. We hauled a lot of firewood on the place. And never got stuck.
I actually really like that van concept! Though it does remind me a little bit of that (in)famous homebrew van from Malta…maybe it’s the side trim. Nonetheless, this could have been quite the competitor for the VW bus…lots of seating and the 3 doors would be handy.
The regular FC Jeep trucks were never very common. The only thing that keeps this from being a home run for me is the greenhouse, obviously a compromise in order to minimize the number of new door/window parts.
I clicked the link for more pictures – that back door looks like it would have been suited best to young, agile children, given that window dogleg.
Had Jeep tried to turn this into a van more like other manufacturers were doing in the early 60s, they might have had a real success with a 4WD version.
A friend of my dads had the PU verson. He used to plow snow. It went everywhere. I also saw one in a mud bog race and it was unbeatable, until his front deflector failed and screwed up the radiator.
Even though I remember seeing 1 or 2 of these FCs as a kid in rural Pa./N.Y. when I saw the drawing of the red and white FC my first thought was “…a FRONT wheel drive Jeep product”, I think it’s the COE triggers that idea.
The prototype looks like something you might see in the U.K. or Italy, at least to my eyes. 50s/early 60s British and Italian trucks have always looked (to me, anyway) like something cobbled together from spare parts.
I often wonder if Jeep’s slow growth after WW II was a result of the potential customers needing to be educated to the need and benefits of 4WD versus the added costs/complexity.
I think that Jeeps slow growth was due to the fact that they were crude and rode like crap. If you truly needed 4 wheel drive they couldn’t be beat but most people really didn’t need it. Snow tires worked for most people.
Putting the driver above the front wheels in a hard riding truck means about twice the vertical movement and acceleration over bumps compared to being several feet behind the wheels. Could be punishing, and these were made for bumpy places.
Now thats cool! The 6 door setup is a bit wonky…seems like the first 2 pairs are all youd need. Still, its a shame this didnt see production. It might be just a little less obscure, but I can just imagine how many would be rolling around Cummins powered and lifted.
Stevens was indeed a giant, but he did have a few mis-steps. I think this is one- echos of his Gaylord sports car concepts-the same boring cliches repeated again and again.
I dunno ;
I look at this van and see : People Mover , Crew Truck etc. , Military or Airport duty…..
I’m no huge fan of FC Jeeps having worked in a Jeep Dealer when they were plenty of them still around , looking for parts etc.
Nevertheless I think this could have been a profitable vehicle for Jeep .
-Nate
It might have been profitable but, like the Studebaker Lark, any success would have been short-lived. Ford and Chevy introduced the similar Falcon-based Econoline and Corvair-based Greenbrier vans in 1961 (with Dodge joining them in 1964 with the A100), and between the three of them, they would have surely wiped-out any Jeep FC-150 van success, just as the Valiant, Corvair, and Falcon killed the Lark in 1960.
I love how “Ertl” this looks! I especially like the slanted, almost-basket-handle B-pillar aft of the cabin doors.
I cant see why it couldnt have been a success forward control Landrovers eked out a niche for themselves and although they seem bigger strongly resemble this Jeep
Such a ridiculously cool vehicle, and a tragedy that none seem to have survived.
My uncle owned a construction company, bought a new FC150…early 1950’s, drove it/worked it until the 1970’s…..very cool, even cooler when my father would borrow it to move “stuff’….my uncle always had a box of Dorothy Muriel cigars tucked under the dash :-)…….Saw a mint FC in Hyannis here on Cape Cod several years ago…..it was like a mirage.
Love this FC van! Thanks for posting.
I have 1956 jeep commuter sticker Certification In color with the date any idea if this is worth anything is probably the only one in the world I’ve had it for 30 years excellent condition