Jeep Cowboy: The AMC-Based Jeep Pickup Prototype that Never Was

"Hey, that's a pretty sharp looking Gremlin-Camino ya' got dere."

Originating around 1970, the Jeep Cowboy Prototype was conceived as an answer to the heavy influx of import trucks coming from Japan. Datsun, Toyota, and Mazda, the latter also sold by Ford as the Courier, not to mention the Chevy Luv, itself a rebranded Isuzu, were all picking up steam in the mini-truck marketplace, and AMC figured the easiest way to get in on the action was to cook up an  El Camnio-zed version of it's successful Hornet model with a Gremlin fascia and bed in back.

Reportedly only three prototypes were built, all bearing "JEEP" logos despite its AMC lineage. While accounts vary, the Cowboy was never produced for two reasons: Production capacity for the popular Hornet was maxed out, and at the time AMC/Jeep had no 4x4 system available that would work with the Cowboy's unibody origins. Sad, as just a decade later AMC would introduce the 4x4 Eagle, essentially a Hornet with a slightly lifted suspension and a true four-wheel drive drivetrain. Available in Wagon, Sedan, and Kammback body styles, a light-duty pickup would have been a natural extension of the Eagle lineup.

Though we're sad the Cowboy never got an opportunity to put the spurs to the competition, we're absolutely thrilled the concept rode off into the sunset before surfacing with the fascia mock up seen in the photo below, which resembles something Anthony Hopkins might have worn in his portrayal of Dr. Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs. Yech.