The Story of the 1971 Hurst Jeepster Commando

Homepage

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.

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.

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?  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.

** NOTE - 01/26/2010 - When we first started this site years ago, we only knew of maybe 20 Hurst's.  My current count is now approaching 65.  As the number found goes up, the chances of only 100 being produced logically seems to go down.  If we continue to approach a possible 70-75% survival rate, even I'll have a hard time believing that there could possibly be that many survivors after 40 years.  Personally this doesn't worry or particularly bother me as the whole point of this site from day one was to try to answer these questions.  I've always operated on the principle of publishing what I can show through documentation or research. I have still yet to find anything which suggests a number produced of over 100 (despite looking), but our numbers are starting to get interesting.  I think over the next year or two it will be very telling to see if Hurst's continue appearing or if we completely plateau.

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:

Hood Scoop / Tachometer – The Hurst's hood featured a functional hoodscoop with a built in tachometer.

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.

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.