Back in the AMC days of Jeep, there was a full size 4-door SUV called the Wagoneer/Grand Wagoneer, plus a 2-door variant called the Cherokee.
They also had a pick-up derived from the SUV called the Gladiator, I believe.
Why didn’t AMC engineer and market a full size van, to compete fully with GM, Ford and Chrysler?
It looks as if they’d thought about it. (Not AMC, but Willys/Willys-Kaiser.) I don’t know why Willys never persued the van variant of the FC-150/170, but the Forward Control trucks were not their most popular product. (Which is not to say they were unpopular – they were built from 1956-1965.)
I’d have to look it up, but IIRC AMC was in financial trouble in the 1970s and it ended up being half-owned by Renault. It coule be that they just didn’t want to spend the resources on a Jeep van. Or more likely, they knew a good thing when they had it and decided to concentrate on the CJ-5/6/7/8 and Wagoneer line.
It looks as if they’d thought about it. (Not AMC, but Willys/Willys-Kaiser.) I don’t know why Willys never persued the van variant of the FC-150/170, but the Forward Control trucks were not their most popular product. (Which is not to say they were unpopular – they were built from 1956-1965.)
I’d have to look it up, but IIRC AMC was in financial trouble in the 1970s and it ended up being half-owned by Renault. It coule be that they just didn’t want to spend the resources on a Jeep van. Or more likely, they knew a good thing when they had it and decided to concentrate on the CJ-5/6/7/8 and Wagoneer line.
Server error caused the double post.
What the heck? They even made a CORVAIR van, with a ramp on the side so you could roll your lawnmower or motorcycle into the cargo bay.
You can search ‘corvair rampside’ on google, or see the ugliest specimen I could find (flames and all):