.

the car junkie daily magazine.

.

Cool Old Press Photos: ’57 Willys FC Trucks


Cool Old Press Photos: ’57 Willys FC Trucks
(Editor’s note: Since seeing those awesome renderings from Chrysler, I have been thinking about old Forward Control trucks. Here’s some old press photos from 1957 of them in action!) A man who works for my dad handed him a folio of “old car pictures.” Dad brought them over to the house and after opening the folio and nearly urinating in my pants, I piled through the contents. The folio contained 50-60 original glossy press photos and hand-typed press releases for “new” 1957 models. These are scanned images of original documents that have managed to survive for 50 years in remarkable condition. We have stuff from Willys, Nash, Hudson, Dodge, Buick, Ford, Plymouth, hell, even Edsel is represented.

Here’s some goodness from Willys. These Forward Control, or FC-seres trucks were produced from ’56-’65 and are based on a CJ-5 chassis. Platforms included the FC-150 (81-inch wheelbase) and FC-170 (103-inch wheelbase). Early models suffered rollover (and roll forward!) probems and for ’58 the track width was widened to help with stability. FCs were designed by Brooks Stevens, who we have been discussing here recently as he also worked on many other iconic American vehicles and household items, and were available in regular cab and crew-cab models. A military ambulance was also sold. You will also come across some odd rebodies such as motorhomes, since Jeep sold cowl-and-chassis combos to industrial assemblers. In the photos below you will note the five-window and four-window cabs.

'57 Jeep FC press photo

'57 Jeep FC press photo

'57 Jeep FC press release


  • Share This
  • Pinterest
  • 0