Dressed in orange, this 1961 Willys Jeep FJ-3 may not be recognizable. But if you are of a certain age, and you can picture this Jeep finished in blue and dressed with a white top, you may recall seeing one in U.S. mail service long ago. I had completely forgotten about the Jeep FJ series until seeing one get a redo on the T.V. show Fantom Works several years ago. The seller of this Jeep had plans for it but has now decided to sell so let’s see what’s up with it. It’s located in Van Nuys, California and is available here on craigslist for $28,995. Rocco B. gets the credit for this find!
Being a 1961 edition clearly puts this FJ (’61-’75) under Willys’ ownership with ’63 and later models being part of Kaiser-Jeep. There’s no backstory regarding this vehicle’s history just a mention that a food truck was in the cards for its future. The description is light other than a statement regarding driveability and “clean inside and out, rollup rear door. We bought it to convert to a food truck, but unforeseen events have caused us to discard those business plans“. It appears to be in sound condition, while the images aren’t too revealing there is no indication of rot or significant body damage. Owing to this vehicle’s right-hand drive and horizontal slated grille, it probably was a former mail truck. The mileage recording is 75K miles but it’s further stated that the odometer is inoperative.
There are no images of the engine so I found a representative one to use as an example. It’s a 75 gross HP, 2.2 liter, in-line four-cylinder affair known as a “Hurricane”. Many FJ’s changed gears manually but this example, typical for a mail service van, has an automatic transmission. As stated earlier, it’s considered “driveable”.
There’s nothing going on inside, it’s swept bare which is an advantage in that a prospective buyer can see exactly what’s there (nothing!) and it ends up being a blank canvas. I suppose the interior shape, with the right cabinets and counters, could work as a food truck but it seems that one side of it would have to be cut open as a place to take orders and serve food. How easily this Jeep would lend itself to that undertaking is unknown to me. A quick look around the interweb shows many images of FJ-3s but not many that are in mobile commissary service. Besides, it seems that at $28,950, plus improvements, you’d have to sell a boatload of breakfast tacos to make this thing work financially!
Which leads to my oft-asked question, what would you do with this FJ-3? I’m sure we’ll find suggestions of, “Put an LS in it!” or “How about a Hellcat?” or “Use it as a marketing/promotional prop” or…?
Rolling board shop / camper with a hitch for the Hobie, dude. The beach is calling…
Walking Taco comes to mind when I see this.
Food truck?
Maybe petit fours.
Food truck?
Maybe finger sandwiches.
Definitely cocktail weenies…
Little HIGH on the price. I’d drive it like it is and call it a day
Ice cream 🤔yeah the mean machine👍🇺🇸🎉
Put in a mini fridge for cold items, add a warming station, and you could
use it as a vehicle for Door Dash or
Uber Eats. We sure could’ve used this when Sis and I had to deliver an
electric lawn mower from Home Depot to a customer in Haines City.
We had the devil’s own time loading it
into the trunk of our Hyundai Accent.
Or use it to deliver packages for Amazon as an independent contractor. Whatever you use it for,
you will be noticed.
See more at:
Jeep FleetVan 61-64
And Jeep FleetVans.com
Both Facebook page groups.
(Not commercial sites.)
GaryK
Manchester TN
bubble tea and juice truck
All great ideas, no doubt it would be a kick to own, no matter how you decided to use it. I just think a buy in at nearly 30 K , is a little to rich for me!
At nearly $28k before you add any accessories to make it a food truck I’m thinking they don’t really want to sell it or they have to pay a divorce attorney
Huge full blown V8 big rear slicks it’s a mighty little wheel stand truck at the race track for show and tell. Kids stuff.
God Bless America
Might make a mini camper. Or become a rural mail carrier.
yeah, too small for commercial food. “One item” like frozen Danny ona Stick (yogurt w/cholette cover) or dogs. To reach most Dept of Health standards U need more room for those req than could be done here AND have much other equipment.
From the pic (not much provided) might be tough to even stand up straight.
Here’s a shot er 2:
https://www.oldwillysforum.com/forum/index.php?forums/jeep-fleetvans-and-stepvans.43/
1. Harley Davidson service truck?
2. Definitely use as a daily driver.
3. Small grocery store delivery van?
Too bad the price is out of line with reality…