We want this Jeep! We can’t have it. We’re bummed. What should we do? It’s not up to us, it’s up to Jeep. So far Jeep has done nothing to further the Mighty FC concept to production. Why?

Jeep’s Mighty FC was sprung into the world in 2013 as a concept. But, unlike most concepts, this was a working proof-of-concept concept. From press reports at the time, it performed as tough as it looked. It seems that Jeep was concerned about how unbalanced it looked. After all, all of the weight bias is to the front, including the engine.

Mighty FC=’cab forward’

It’s called “cab forward” and Jeep had it first in the 1950s with its FC which stood for Forward Control. Front heavy and high riding, it looks like a disaster in the initial stages of occurring. Keep watching and soon it will nose over or fall on its side like a drunk. Except it didn’t.

Occupants sit ahead of the engine for space efficiency. The Mighty FC concept does the same thing, as an homage to the original. But, it seems like it was made from leftover Wrangler components laying around waiting to be put back together. In this case though, not as they had been.

Starting with a two-door Wrangler, Jeep cut away everything except the windshield, A-pillars, and doors. They then modified a roof from a JK-8 pickup kit. 

A Wrangler chassis forms the base, with a now, longer wheelbase of 117-inches. A 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 out of a Wrangler Rubicon and automatic transmission/dual-range transfer case are under the hood and remain mostly stock. At 300 hp it would perform handily. 

Suspension-wise, portal axles add about 5-½-inches of lift. They are made up of gears in each wheel hub that raise the main axle tube above the wheel centers. Tires are 39.5-inch Krawlers hugging 17-inch Hutchinsons bead-lock wheels. Coil-over shocks with remote reservoirs and TeraFlex control arms add extra control and ride.

To get into the cab you use the rock sliders repurposed from Jeep four-door rock rails. Inside more Wrangler bits are noticeable including the dash, steering wheel, and shifter. Seat upholstery is from a Burton snowboard bag with the tags and zippers left sewn in.

Ascending blue sky. Descending only ground

From driving reports it takes a bit of driving to get used to being ahead of the engine and suspension. Going up a hill you only see the blue sky, and descending you only see the ground. There is no luxury of having surroundings as reference. The good pae=rt is there’s no overhang to worry about snagging. 

At 6,500 lbs this is no lightweight off-roader. But that may be as much because it’s a concept as anything. We would like to think that if the FC went into production the Jeep engineers would be able to trim at least 2,000 lbs. With crash testing a major part of vehicle development, we doubt the FC could get close to passing. 

In modern vehicles, the crumple zone is right about where your feet and legs are in the FC, so…