About 10 minutes away from where I live, just a bit out in the country, there’s a forlorn little Jeep FC-150 sitting in the corner of someone’s yard. It’s clearly rusted into oblivion, and the snowplow hanging from its front end tells you how it got its battle scars, but I can never drive by without coming up with a plan of how I’d save it. Luckily, this 1963 FC-150 here on eBay in Petaluma, California, doesn’t need as much saving. It’s about as rust-free as an original Jeep Forward Control truck can be (but it does have a little rust…read on), and although it will need some mechanical ministering to awaken it from its 54-year slumber, it will be a fun project for anyone who has a soft spot for these cute little trucks. The high bid is currently $2,025.
The FC-150 was the smaller of the Forward Control models, and as such came with the 134-cubic-inch “Hurricane” F-Head four, which produced about 75 horsepower. For those who are unfamiliar with the F-Head design, the intake valves are located in the cylinder head, while the exhaust valves are located in the block as they would be in an L-Head design.
The seller says that the truck has been sitting in a barn since 1972, and being that the barn was ready to fall down and take the truck with it, the FC has been extricated from its long-time home. The seller says that a borescope scan of a couple of the Hurricane’s cylinders reveals little rust; however, they do recommend a rebuild.
If that’s the case, it might be an easy hone-and-re-ring job, as the truck was parked with only 61,732 miles on the clock. The interior may look just fine with a little cleaning, and this is certainly one of those cases where a buyer could get away with leaving the truck’s appearance mostly as is.
Unfortunately, all FCs have a propensity to rust, and the seller says that the bed rusted where a bale of straw was sitting. There’s also some rust in the passenger cab corner (near the battery compartment). Other projects include one broken quarter glass pane and a minor dent or two (that I would probably leave alone), and finding a replacement for the missing tailgate.
The cute little Jeep Forward Control trucks were never a big hit for Willys Motors (later Kaiser Jeep); with only 30,000 or so being built, and rust having its way with most of them, it’s rare to see one anywhere. Finding an original fixer-upper like this one would make any FC fan happy, even if they just putter around the yard with it. Hey, it may even be tempting to slap a snowplow on the front to make every snowstorm a little more fun.
:), not sure what tickles me more, old trucks or Jeeps. I always thought FC or Forward Control, had something to do with the front drive axle, but it literally means, sitting on the front axle. The short turning radius made them ideal for municipal work. I remember as a kid, the Milwaukee County Park system had a bunch of these with brooms, clearing ice skating rinks. The brainchild, if you will, of Brooks Stevens, to mimic cab over semi trucks, just gaining steam then. The biggest nemesis, rust. Since these were used primarily in winter, few survived. These actually have an interesting history, like the CJ, could be had with a host of attachments, even a dually mid-engine V8, ( a 272 Ford, I believe) that never made it to production, or very few. They do excellent “stoppies” too. Great find, not many of these babys left.