Friday, September 25, 2015
Coulda hada 2
In '55 Willys developed a practical COE pickup called 'Forward Control', which gained some popularity among agricultural and commercial users but didn't catch the eye of retail customers. It was sort of odd-looking but remarkably efficient in terms of space usage. You got a standard-size pickup bed on a vehicle only 146 inches long.
Brooks Stevens designed all Willys products from '46 to '62. Around 1957 Willys commissioned Stevens to try a van based on the Forward Control. He made a couple of superweird prototypes:
(Pix from Collectible Auto, July 2007 issue.)
It's easy to see why these didn't get anywhere. Awful. Even a genius like Stevens has bad days.
But at the same time Willys was ACTUALLY PRODUCING a van for military uses:
Practical, economical, and attractive in a businesslike way. Not a prototype, already in production, tooling made and in use.
Willys could have scooped the Econoline by 3 years! Why didn't they?
Maybe someone in corporate offices was thinking: "Nah, we couldn't just civilianize a military design. Nobody has ever done that. We certainly haven't done it before. Wouldn't sell in any case."
Oh wait... Yes we did, and it became the most timeless of all American cars.
It's easy to see why these didn't get anywhere. Awful. Even a genius like Stevens has bad days.
But at the same time Willys was ACTUALLY PRODUCING a van for military uses:
Practical, economical, and attractive in a businesslike way. Not a prototype, already in production, tooling made and in use.
Willys could have scooped the Econoline by 3 years! Why didn't they?
Maybe someone in corporate offices was thinking: "Nah, we couldn't just civilianize a military design. Nobody has ever done that. We certainly haven't done it before. Wouldn't sell in any case."
Oh wait... Yes we did, and it became the most timeless of all American cars.
Labels: Alternate universe
¶ 3:45 AM
