In the
beginning….
The Hurst Jeepster (modeled above
by Linda Vaughn) was a joint project between Hurst Performance Products’
George Hurst and the Jeep engineers.
This project actually began while Jeep was owned by Kaiser Industries,
but the model didn't appear on the showroom floor until after Jeep had been purchased by American
Motors Corp. Originally Jeep
planned to produce 500 of these special editions (300 automatics and 200 stick
shifts), but in the end it is believed that only around 100 were ever driven off
of the assembly line making it a very special vehicle. The reasoning behind the lower production total was likely
because AMC had plans to redesign the Commando model for the following
production year.
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A touch of
style…..
According to an road test article
by Four Wheeler Magazine in July of 1970, Jeep introduced the XJ001 “idea car”
at the New York International Auto Show. This V-8 roadster had rally
striping and a hood scoop and was supposed to be an indication
of what the future might look like for 4wd enthusiasts. The Jeep engineers eventually borrowed some of the XJ001
features when they created the prototype for the 1971 Hurst/Jeepster Special, see
the prototype here.
This is believed to be the first time an aftermarket performance parts
company and a 4wd manufacturer joined forces to create a special model.
Hurst was already well known for creating special edition cars with the
likes of Chrysler, American Motors, and Oldsmobile.
Apparently, the new styling of the Hurst Edition Jeepster was intended to target a younger,
performance-oriented buyer.
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How many were
built ????
This could quite possibly be the most widely disputed fact pertaining to
the Hurst Jeepster. I think I heard
at least five different answers when I first asked that question. 100… 500… 800… 1,000…
1,500..... So what is the
answer? Well, according to the Illustrated Jeep Buyers Guide, The
Story of Jeep, Standard Catalog of
Jeep, an edition of Special
Interest Autos, and Hurst Heritage
the answer is somewhere in the neighborhood of 100.
In fact, Hurst Heritage (no
longer in publication) quotes Dick Chrysler as believing that even fewer than
100 were produced. To tell you the truth I have never seen a number over
100 published in a book, and I've seen a lot of books.
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What makes the
Hurst Special?
So what made a Hurst different than any other 71’ Jeepster Commando?.
If you’ve ever seen a Hurst in person, you most likely did a double
take. As Patrick Foster put it in an article for Special Interest Autos, “the
only body color was white, which, combined with the red and blue stripes, gives
the Hurst the appearance of a modern high-performance mail truck”.
The Hurst featured the following traits:
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| Rally Stripes –
Blue and red rally stripes were placed on the hood, cowl, and tailgate. (see top
picture) |
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Hood Scoop /
Tachometer – The Hurst's hood featured a functional hoodscoop with a
built in tachometer.
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Hurst Badging – A
Hurst badge was placed on each side of the hood above the Jeepster Commando logo
as well as one on the tailgate.
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Shifter –
Since no Hurst special edition could be complete without one of the
manufacturers performance shifters, Jeepsters with the automatic TH400 were
given a Hurst Dual Gate shifter, while the T14a manual
Hurst's were simply given a
Hurst T-handle shifter.
** Note: there is some
debate about whether any Hurst's were ever produced with the manual transmission.
Through our research we have already located 10 Hurst's we believe to be in an
original standard transmission. **
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| Tires – Apparently
in order to give the vehicle better on-road performance, the Hursts were fitted
with Goodyear Polyglas G70 X 15 custom wide-tread, black wall tires with raised
white lettering. Four Wheelers road
test stated that the tires left a bit to be desired in off-road situations. |
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Special Order Tag
– Under the hood along with the standard “Dauntless” V-6 engine was a
Jeep Corp. special order tag which listed a “Special Sales Order No.” for
the Hurst. Unfortunately Jeep used
an adhesive to affix them instead of rivets, and as a result, many didn’t hold
up to the test of time.
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| Luggage Rack /
Sliding Windows / Headliner– It is also believed that all Hurst's came standard with a roof mounted luggage rack.
This same rack was offered as an option on other Jeepsters.
Some Hurst's also had the optional sliding side windows and a deluxe
headliner for the hardtop.
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Brushed Chrome Steering Wheel ?– According to the Four Wheeler road
test, all Hurst's were to have a 15 inch foam steering wheel with brushed
chrome spokes and an adapter, but I
have yet to hear from anyone who has one and believes it to be original. It
looks like this feature never made it into the production model. In
the pictures below (of a pre-production model), you can barely make out
the special steering wheel.
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In the end….
We hope that the Hurst Jeepster Commando will continue to
be recognized as one of the rarest Jeeps ever produced. Kaiser hoped it would ring in a new era in 4wd vehicles that
would broaden the market. In the
end, it would appear AMC only half-heartedly attempted to meet their commitment
to Hurst by producing 1/5 of the originally planned units.
It is understandable as AMC was getting ready to launch a new Commando
featuring a re-designed front grill and room for a V-8.
In retrospect, it made the vehicle much more special in the enthusiasts eyes, and enhanced its
collectibility. If
you own one, treasure it and enjoy the fact that you have a little piece of Jeep
history.
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