You probably know this car already, since the Jeep Station Wagon, called Ford Rural or just Rural Willys in Brazil was also sold on US soil. Actually, it was indeed the American version, but shipped in parts and assembled by Willys-Overland do Brasil S.A..
Back in 1956, Willys-Overland began importing it from the US, to built it here on the land of the Araras. First with the wedgy front fascia (like the new MBX Jeep Willys Pickup Lamley unveiled a not so long ago), it got quickly a facelift in 1959 to this version. All of them were AWD, and those first models came with a gas-powered, three-speed manual and a 6 cylinder 2.6l engine with whopping 90cv!!!
With the facelift, in 1959 the Willys-Overland factory in Taubaté, São Paulo, also began producing this engine, reducing costs. Being the first, and only, utility vehicle (good times when the acronym SUV didn’t existed), it was the queen of rural roads.
The Rurals were used for everything!!! Hauling goods at the farms? Check. Transporting the produce to the cities, to sell? Check. Recreational vehicle for families? Check. Public services vehicle to cross incredibly bad roads in the interior of the country? Check check check! These things could go anywhere!
With the immense success, quickly people began buying it in great numbers for using in cities, so in 1964 a new version with 4x2 traction, independent front suspension and gear shifter on the column was introduced. With those mechanical novelties, it got as well a new dashboard, new grille and a 4 speed synchronized gearbox.
In 1967 Ford bought Willys-Overland, but the model was only rebadged as Ford Rural in 1972. This model is from a 1968 Rural, with the new ‘64 grill. It was made until 1977, after this year only the pickup version (the Ford F-75) and the Jeep Willys continued.
The production was short, only 20 years on a time where the models could live a lot longer, but it was more than enough to create an aura of “battle tank” around it. Today there are still lots of Rurals on our roads, in many conservation states, a true proof of the resistence and reliability of this car.
Bonus photos:
Sources (in portuguese):
Carplace: Rural Willys foi a precursora dos utilitários esportivos