Inside Design: The 2012 Jeep® Mighty FC Concept:
The Jeep® Forward Control was built from 1956 to 1965 and offered a clever packaging solution. The Forward Control or “FC” kept the overall length at a minimum for maneuverability but maintained a full-length cargo box for utility. The iconic off-road brand launched a modern take of the former FC back in 2012 at the 46th Annual Easter Jeep Safari, with the Jeep Mighty FC Concept.
To create the Jeep Mighty FC Concept, the Jeep design team started with a 2012 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon (JK) and repositioned the cabin over and ahead of the front axle, lengthened the wheelbase, and added a custom built drop-side cargo box. The cab utilizes a roof from the Mopar JK-8 conversion kit, as well as a custom-designed front clip.
The off-road function is dramatically improved with the addition of Mopar’s Portal Axle set. These offset axles offered the greatest amount of ground clearance without requiring excessive suspension lift. Both the Front Portal Axle (8-lug, part number P5155670) and the Rear Portal Axle (8-lug, part number P5155671) have been discontinued.
The axles are controlled with King coil-over assemblies along with beefy Teraflex control arms and track bars. Traction is handled by massive 39×13.50R17 BFGoodrich Krawlers on custom 17-inch Hutchinson Rock Monster beadlocks wheels. Other Jeep Mighty FC highlights included King coil-over reservoir shocks, Hanson bumpers, a Warn 16.5 winch, Tom Wood’s custom driveshafts, and a Corsa stainless steel exhaust system.
Believe it or not, the Mighty FC Concept is quite balanced over the terrain despite that it may look like it’s not.
The Wrangler-based interior has been enhanced with bold, heavy-duty Katzkin leather and a unique color scheme. The cargo area is handled by a full-width, drop-side tray-style bed that measures more than eight feet in length. The leather seats were integrated with a plaid material from a Burton snowboard bag, in which the zippers have been incorporated into the sides of the seat. The interior plastics are a mix between red and black, giving the Mighty FC a quite inviting interior despite its utilitarian exterior.
Powering the Mighty FC Concept is, of course, the award-winning 3.6-liter Pentastar V6. It is mated to the stock 5-speed automatic transmission and NVG-241OR Rubicon Rock Trac transfer case with 4:1 low range, both remain untouched in their stock form.
The Mighty FC Concept continues to be one of the most talked-about modern-day concepts from the Jeep brand. Because of crash testing regulations, we highly doubt we would ever see something cool like the Mighty FC come to market, it shows us that the FCA Product Design Office isn’t afraid to push the boundaries when it comes to design.
2012 Jeep® Mighty FC Concept Image Gallery:
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Jeep Mighty FC Concept First Drive
Through—and over—the past, ruggedly, in this not-quite-production vehicle.
By Andrew Wendler Published: Aug 1, 2012
From the August 2012 issue of Car and Driver
At first glance, the Jeep Mighty FC concept defies any preconceived notions you may have regarding scale and balance. Alarmingly front-heavy and precipitously perched, it runs roughshod over generally accepted tenets of vehicle design.
When the original Jeep FC (Forward Control) sprang forth from the mind of industrial designer Brooks Stevens (the same guy who designed the classic Miller Brewing logo!) back in the 1950s, its mission was not off-road prowess but improved space efficiency and versatility. It placed the occupants above and in front of—rather than behind—the powertrain.
The new Mighty FC concept performs the same packaging trick, and so it retains the family visage. As Mark Allen, head of Jeep Design and the prime instigator behind the Mighty FC, puts it: “As soon as we unveiled it in Moab [at the annual Easter Jeep Safari], everyone recognized it, which amazed us. We thought it would have a fan base of about five people. As it sits here, it’s somewhere between an engineering mule and a static concept vehicle.”
The FC’s cab was hewn from the two-door Wrangler, retaining the windshield, A-pillars, and doors; the roof is from Mopar’s JK-8 pickup kit.
To enter, the long-limbed and nimble may find it easiest to simply scale one of the nearly 40-inch-high tires; the vertically challenged and aged may prefer to climb upon the rock sliders (repurposed Jeep four-door rock rails, cribbed directly from the Mopar catalog) and shimmy over the tire.
The interior consists largely of stock Wrangler items, including the dash, steering wheel, and shifter. The seats are wrapped in plaid upholstery partially stitched up from a Burton snowboard bag, the tags and zippers left intact. Given the obvious volumetric peculiarities of the cab-over configuration, the driving position is surprisingly comfortable.
A Wrangler Rubicon’s 3.6-liter V-6 engine and automatic transmission both remain virtually stock. The chassis came from the same Wrangler, albeit lengthened to provide a 117.0-inch wheelbase.
Post-inspection, we are set loose on the Jeep trails located deep in the bowels of Chrysler’s Chelsea Proving Grounds. First up: a several-hundred-foot rock staircase that the FC conquers almost effortlessly in both directions; there’s some mild wheel hop during the climb, but the descent is graceful. Next we confront a downhill with staggered whoops designed to test axle articulation. It’s here that the ass-over-axle seating position makes itself felt, providing a sensation dynamically opposed to everything your author’s inner ear has learned about vehicular poise. The ground comes up directly in front of us; making a mistake here pretty much guarantees that our feet and ankles will spend the next few months encased in plaster.
“The portal axles are the real story here,” says Allen. “They provide about 5.5 inches of lift due to their design, which uses gears in each wheel hub to raise the main axle tube above the wheel centers.” Aside from the 39.5-inch Krawler tires mounted on 17-inch Hutchinson bead-lock wheels, there isn’t a lot of additional suspension lift. It’s got coil-over shocks with remote reservoirs and TeraFlex control arms, but otherwise the chassis is stock. It weighs about 6500 pounds all in, with a heavy bias toward the front.
Approaching a boulder-strewn uphill that would stymie even experienced wheelers, we lock the front and rear diffs and effortlessly idle up the incline, occasionally lifting a tire into the air.
So the FC works even better than it looks—a rare trait for a concept vehicle. If Jeep puts it into production (the FC has a small chance), we bet there’d be more than five people lining up for it.
Specifications
VEHICLE TYPE: mid-engine, 4-wheel-drive, 2-passenger, 2-door truck
PRICE (MFR’S EST): $225,000
ENGINE TYPE: DOHC 24-valve V-6, aluminum block and heads, port fuel injection
Displacement: 220 cu in, 3604 cc
Power: 285 hp @ 6400 rpm
Torque: 260 lb-ft @ 4800 rpm
TRANSMISSION: 5-speed automatic with manual shifting mode
DIMENSIONS:
Wheelbase: 117.0 in
Length: 200.0 in
Width: 85.0 in Height: 90.0 in
Curb weight: 6500 lb
PERFORMANCE (C/D EST):
Zero to 60 mph: 10.7 sec
¼-mile: 18.9 sec
Top speed: 80 mph
Andrew Wendler brings decades of wrenching, writing, and editorial experience with numerous outlets to Car and Driver. A rust-belt native and tireless promoter of the region, he once won a $5 bet by walking the entire length of the elevated People Mover track that encircles downtown Detroit.
Jeep Mighty FC Concept: Autoweek drive review video: Another drive in our favorite truck of 2012
An awful lot of enthusiasts love sports cars and super cars, but there are just as many truck lovers out there. For them we offer, once again, one of our favorite concept trucks of 2012: the Jeep Mighty FC.
We first saw the concept at the Easter Jeep Safari last April. In August, we got another chance to see and drive the Mighty FC and shoot video of it. Now, we’ve finally put the video together and figured, as winter grips your icy backyard, you might like another look at this really cool concept.
The original Jeep Forward Control—the “FC” in “Mighty FC”—was built 50 years ago when there was no such thing as front-impact protection standards. The idea was simple: keep the overall length short for maneuverability but still offer a big cargo box. So they slid the cab all the way to the front. You could do that before DOT started writing rules.
The Mighty FC maintains the original Forward Control’s straightforward design edict and does it relatively cheaply. Most of the truck is a two-door 2012 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon. Designers simply put the Wrangler cabin over and ahead of the front axle, lengthened the wheelbase, and added a custom built drop-side cargo box. It sounds simple, doesn’t it?
The Wrangler cab gets a roof from the Mopar JK-8 conversion kit, as well as a custom-designed front clip. The interior is also Wrangler-based, but with Katzkin leather and its own concept-unique color scheme. The cargo box features an 8-foot-long flatbed with drop-down walls for easy loading.
Off-road function is enhanced by Mopar’s new portal axle set, offset axles that offer the greatest amount of ground clearance without requiring excessive suspension lift. That kit is in the catalog, too. King coil-over assemblies and Teraflex control arms and track bars finish the setup. The whole rig rides on 40-inch tires mounted on custom Hutchinson 17-inch beadlock wheels.
Jeep continues to insist it isn’t offering a complete Mighty FC conversion kit for sale. But we continue to ask, eight months after first seeing the big bruiser, “Come on, man, why not?”
Well, there is that crash protection thing, wherein the first thing to go in a frontal assault would be both of your legs. That would be several lawsuits worth of trouble right there. Oh well.
Enough whining. Have another look at the Mighty FC in action in the video. If nothing else it’ll give you something to think about all winter. See you at the 2013 Easter Safari.
Mark Vaughn grew up in a Ford family and spent many hours holding a trouble light over a straight-six miraculously fed by a single-barrel carburetor while his father cursed Ford, all its products and everyone who ever worked there. This was his introduction to objective automotive criticism. He started writing for City News Service in Los Angeles, then moved to Europe and became editor of a car magazine called, creatively, Auto. He decided Auto should cover Formula 1, sports prototypes and touring cars—no one stopped him! From there he interviewed with Autoweek at the 1989 Frankfurt motor show and has been with us ever since.