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Jim was lucky enough to find this 1957 FC-150 US Forest Service truck still in great shape and is now the proud owner. He was able to find out quite a lot of history on this truck and sent me the well written details. Here they are. Really nice find Jim.
"The first owner was the US Forest Service, Hadley Nevada
station in the Toyiabe National Forest, where it was primarily used for winter
access to forest camps and trails and for delivering supplies for remote
construction. It was delivered to Hadley as a new vehicle in November 1957, at
which time the factory green and white paint was covered with USFS dark green on
the exterior. The interior remained factory color. The USFS ordered it as a
stake bed from the factory, and also equipped it with a PTO driven Koening
Winch. The truck stayed in USFS service until 1992, when it was sold to a
private party in nearby Manhattan, Nevada. That party resold it in 2006 to the
person I bought it from.
Remarkably, the Jeep remained in its stock, unmolested condition, right down to
the original USFS paint. Even the wood in the stake bed is original. The Jeep is
without any but surface rust on the undercarriage, all other parts are rust
free. The odometer shows just over 24,800 miles, which based on the transfer of
title documents appears to be original mileage. The interior has the original
upholstery, which needs to have the seats recovered, and most of the original
trim, although the headliner left years ago. The original AM radio still works,
as do all the gauges.
The original 4 cylinder engine and 3 speed transmission operate smoothly, and
are leak free, as is the transfer case. The winch operates as original, although
at some point the spool lever has been broken. The tires have obviously been
replaced over the years, but are the same size, pattern, and tread as original,
mounted on the same wheels. About a year ago the windshield was replaced due to
cracks.
I have a letter from the daughter of the USFS Ranger who was in charge of the
Hadley station verifying the history of the jeep through 1992, and the
subsequent paperwork showing ownership chain. The jeep came with a great deal of
documentation, even including the original owners manual and USFS Jeep parts
book.
My intent is to leave this Jeep as original. We'll have the seats recovered in
original style and color fabrics, and we'll try buffing out the paint to see how
it comes back. At some point I might put an overdrive in it, but we'll see how
much I actually drive it over the road. Mostly it's just a toy."