The Chrysler Farmobil: German-Greek Agricultural Machine

based largely on information and graphics provided by former Chrysler International manager Hans Ensing

The Farmobile was a simple, low-cost agricultural truck, originally designed by the vehicle specialist company Steyr-Daimler-Puch of Austria. They used the BMW Isetta’s 697 cc engine (0.7 liters), and a Porsche-patented four-speed manual gearbox.

The V-2 engine, adapted from the BMW R67 motorcycle, generated a peak 35 SAE horsepower at 5,000 rpm with 37 lb-ft of torque at 3,400 rpm, from its 42 cubic inches; it had a wet sump, pressure-feed lubrication system with air cooling and a single downdraft carburetor. The gearbox was synchronized in all forward gears, using a single-disc dry plate clutch. Gear ratios were 3.54, 1.94, 1.27, and 0.84 (reverse was also 3.54:1); the rear axle ratio was 6.5:1. While the horsepower rating was not the stuff of sports cars, the light weight — 1,280 pounds sans doors and top — must have given it acceptable acceleration.

A ZF Gemmer-type steering system had divided tie bars and a 12.3:1 ratio. All four wheels had a hydraulic leading and trailing internal shoe system; a mechanical handbrake operated on rear wheels. An automatic differential lock was optional. Steel 3.5 x 12 inch wheels were used.

Windshield wipers were electrically driven, off the 12-volt system. Turn signals were included in front and rear; in the rear they were combined with brake lights. The fusebox and light switch were in the middle of the cab. The heating system included a windshield defroster.

The body was all steel and all welded; reinforced steel crossmembers were welded with the bottom part and frame. The doors were removeable with detachable side screens; the safety-glass windshield could fold down.

The Farmobil was also sold in Austria and Switzerland by Steyr, under their own name, and in Germany, Italy, and other markets by BMW, under their own name.

Steyr sold the manufacturing rights to the Greek company Farco, which in turn sold them to Chrysler, which produced it in Thessalonika, Greece, for a short while and then got ambitious plans to sell it in the EEC market. The vehicle was brought to various shows, including Paris, and a few sold; but since Greece was not part of the EEC, import duty costs raised the price. The idea came up to build it at the Rotterdam plant, but it never happened despite a test program and spare parts organized in the Antwerp parts depot.

Hans’ personal (not official) opinion is that the vehicle was too expensive for volume sales with an BMW engine and Porsche transmission. He said that there were contacts in those days with Dutch car and truck manufacturer DAF to
buy their engine, but nothing materialized. One reason may be that International Trucks took a share of DAF in those days, and some years later the DAF Pony was introduced, seeking similar markets. The Pony was also not very successful. Regardless of the reason, the Farmobil was never built in Rotterdam, and the Greece operation also disappeared.

From other sources

The Farmobile appears to have been made in Farco’s factory in Greece from 1962 to 1966 (the Greek production photo appeared in the official Chrysler 1964 annual report). When its maker was acquired by Chrysler International, there were revision and more international marketing. Despite the little engine, displacing well less than a liter (700 cc), it had a two-thirds ton capacity and off-road capabilities.

Chrysler advertised the vehicle as “a forest ranger, and a mountaineer. It’s a power plant, a crop sprayer, a mobile shop, a tractor, a safari wagon. It can deliver mail to isolated areas, or operate a milling machine in the fields.” They also pointed to its low center of gravity, weight distribution, and low cargo floor.

Peter Kondogouris reportedly created the Farco company to make the Farmobile. To keep costs low, the vehicle was designed with welded, ribbed flat panels were used, avoiding stamping, though the prototypes had a more curved body.

After acquiring Farco in 1963 through its Hellas subsidiary, Chrysler made many changes to improve the engineering. Chrysler claimed the Farmobil could “handle hills, ravines, mountains, poor roads, no roads. In Greece, they call the Farmobil a motorized goat.”

Advertisements called attention to its versatility and its low cost. Chrysler claimed the Farmobil could handle front and rear slope angles of 30°, and a 25% grade while loaded — a 50% grade when unloaded.

The Farmobil had an independent suspension, with an efficient air-cooled engine easily accessible for maintenance. It could, the company claimed, easily be converted from farm truck to six-passenger car. It had a unit-body chassis, and high ground clearance. The engine sat in back and drove the rear wheels, its weight helping traction.

Rootes Group was apparently interested in the Farmobil for domestic production, and imported two of them in 1965, fitting them with Imp engines; but they were not satisfied and let it fall by the wayside. Critics were generally impressed, mainly with its versatility; it was not meant for high speeds, but apparently could handle anything it might come across in agriculture, including, despite the rear wheel drive, mud.

A full-torque power takeoff, positioned centrally or to the rear, allowed farmers or other workers to use the Farmobil as a stationary power plant, running saws, farm equipment, pumps, or other machinery.

(The Farmobil is also covered by the Imp Site and this Farmobil site. Images on this page were provided from Chrysler materials by Hans Ensing.)