the jeep.
the search.
After searching a few months on craigslist and eBay, I found what seemed like the perfect truck. Original engine with new piston rings, new brake cylinders, a fresh (read backyard rattle-can) paint job. All the parts were there and it was ready to roll - only a few hours away. I called the seller, we agreed to a purchase price, I sent him $100 via PayPal to hold the truck until I could pick it up on the 4th of July. Everything went perfectly smoothly. Picked up the truck on a trailer and towed it home.
define it.
The Jeep Forward Control was produced by Willys/Kaiser Jeep from 1957-65 in small numbers. Under 17,000 FC170s were ever produced. It's a cabover design where you and your passenger have a third passenger in the cab, the engine! The engine lives in the "doghouse" and keeps you company when you're all by your lonesome, or keeps your lady-love warm in the winter months. The FC170 had a 226 cu in engine making only about 105 horsepower when new, about 60 years ago. A 9 ft bed and a short, 103 in wheelbase with 4 wheel-drive made it the perfect utility vehicle for the farm. There was also a crew-cab military version which is extremely rare at this point.
how it all begins.
On a weekend road trip years ago, there was a roadside car show a bunch of buddies and I stopped at. There, I fell in love with the Ford Econoline pickup truck. These trucks are "so ugly they're cute" according to most car people. Built from 1961-67, these trucks weren't the first or last of the cabover pickups, but was the first one I ever saw. Since, I've had a number of different vehicles from a Jeep Wrangler (the infamous YJ with the rectangular headlights) to a Ducati, a recalled Volkswagen TDI, another recalled TDI, and a third TDI i was allowed to keep (Yay, fuel economy).
Feeling like my life needed to downsize a bit, I sold the motorcycle and the Jeep and ever since, felt a bit of a hole in the vehicle repertoire. It was time to begin looking for that cabover pickup truck I could buy as a project, learn about trucks as it gets fixed up, and have something I'm proud of and really enjoy driving around when it's complete.
A few months of google searching later, I found what I needed - A Jeep FC170.
Feeling like my life needed to downsize a bit, I sold the motorcycle and the Jeep and ever since, felt a bit of a hole in the vehicle repertoire. It was time to begin looking for that cabover pickup truck I could buy as a project, learn about trucks as it gets fixed up, and have something I'm proud of and really enjoy driving around when it's complete.
A few months of google searching later, I found what I needed - A Jeep FC170.