By Brian Lohnes

BangShift.com

First generation Ford Broncos are neat trucks. We’ve seen them in all forms from sloggin’ mud boggers, to wheel-pulling drag cars. Hell, Doug Nash ran a flip-up Bronco-bodied funny car in the late 1960s. This is the first one we have seen done in a modern style, slammed to the ground, packing a huffed big block Chevy motor, and a big dollar looking custom interior. Part of us digs it, and part of us doesn’t.

This Bronco was featured in Truckin’ Magazine wearing a different wheel and tire package that gave it a much more Pro Street look. In its current form with the massive rear wheels and short sidewall tires it seems to be angling for the Pro/Faux Touring vibe.

The chassis is an Art Morrison piece, the front suspension is a Mustang II set-up, and the rear is a Ford 9-inch hung with a four-link setup and a pair of Aledine coil over shocks. The paint is 100% awesome looking miles deep and flawless.

That big motor coming through the hood? It’s a 502ci big block Chevy sporting a set of worked Brodix heads, a cam from Comp, and a whole bunch of supercharger on top. The owner claims that the engine makes close to 1,000 hp. The transmission is a built to the hilt Turbo 400.

Crazily the truck has only been driven 250 miles according to the ad. Maybe it scared the guy bad enough that he only idles it around now, who knows. With that little wheelbase, a lightweight package, and the (reportedly) 1,000hp engine, this freaking thing must be devilish on the road.

The interior is certainly out to make a statement. It appears that the steering wheel is wrapped in Alligator, with the rest of the cab is done in leather. From the looks of the driver’s seat, the blower case is just inches from the windshield!

Bad ass or bad taste? What’s your take?

Source — AutoTraderClassics.com — Custom 1967 Ford Bronco

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

Most of these vehicles should never have disappeared in the first place, but all of them need to come back. Now. Let me know what you think of my list. What did I miss?

Ford Bronco

I really don’t know what Ford is waiting for. Seems like a no brainer to me.

See the rest after the jump!

Continue reading "Top Ten Vehicles That Need to Come Back" »

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

Now here’s a combo you don’t see every day. Sports 20 inch wheels with 33 inch mud tires, and it’s motivated by a Ford 5.0! I like it. Full Craigslist ad text after the jump. Via Hooniverse

Continue reading "‘98 Eclipse with ‘82 Bronco 4×4 Chassis on Craigslist" »

By Chris Trout

Troutster52

The peaks and valleys in the emotional life of a car-guy are often marked by brilliant or poor decisions made by auto manufacturers. The day the F-body’s (Camaro/Firebird) cancellation was announced was a sad day in the lives of many dedicated GM muscle car fans. However, when the new Camaro was re-introduced as a concept car, the hearts and minds of the faithful followers leapt with rediscovered bliss. Supra kids still weep over the loss of their pearl from the American market. In the same way, my heart sank when I heard that the Ford Ranger would be cancelled, and the Explorer moved to a car frame. Despite some automotive pessimism and distrust for automakers, excellent decisions about great products are still made daily. The conception and fruition of the Nissan GT-R, the 29 mpg 300 hp V6 Camaro, the F150 Raptor, and the BMW 1 Series all show that car producers can still make excellent products to keep the dreams and minds busy of an adoring automotive community.

2004 Ford Bronco Concept

Continue reading "Ford Bronco: Make it Now!" »

By Brian Lohnes

BangShift.com

Anyone who reads the four-wheel-drive mags or scans YouTube for videos of guys rock crawling, mud bogging, or snow wheeling, will absolutely love this piece of video. Hell, any gearhead worth his or her beans will love it for the sheer plucky nature of people who refuse to cry uncle when the odds are stacked up against them. This is a great video tale of buddies banding together to help one another out.

Long story short, you’ll see a guy roll his ’70s Bronco onto its roof while attempting an obstacle (we think at Moab). The scary part of the roll is that the Bronco has no cage or roll bar and the roof basically crushes flat. We’re assuming that the guy tucked in and was ok, but the truck apparently suffered damage to where it could not be driven. Cue the brotherhood of gearhead-dom.

A friend on the trail has what looks to be an F-250 Ford of the mid ’80s. That truck has a flat bed. By using a winch, some ratchet straps, and pure gumption, they fix the wounded Bronco’s front end to the F-250 and proceed to haul that mother off the trail, at one point using the Bronco (which has its rear tires on the ground) to push the flat bed up a steep rock.

This is awesome stuff.

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

We definitely had some strong opinions in this week’s eBay Motors Showdown, but the Bronco started strong and finished strong, winning by more than a 2-to-1 margin. Stay tuned for another match-up next week!

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

I’ve been wanting to put an early Bronco up against an old Land Cruiser in an eBay Motors Showdown for a while now, but was having trouble finding auctions that were priced close enough–Land Cruisers just seem to command more money at the end of the day. Well, I think I finally found a decent match. This 1972 Ford Bronco has been nicely redone and this 1973 Toyota Land Cruiser appears to be in very good original condition. So, which would you choose?

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

This was definitely the loudest car I heard pull up this afternoon at SEMA. More pics after the jump, including photos that sweet Bronco parked behind it!

Continue reading "'76 Nova Project Sounds Tough" »

By Dan Strohl

Hemmings

Ford’s first sport-utility vehicle got a lot of exposure thanks to Bill Stroppe’s racing efforts in the Ford Bronco in the late 1960s. To commemorate the success, Ford in 1971 began offering the Baja Bronco, a “limited production duplicate” of Stroppe’s racing Broncos. Ford painted the Baja Broncos Metallic Blue, Wimbledon White and Poppy Red, then shipped them to Stroppe himself for the remainder of the conversion, which included fender flares, a padded rollbar and oversize tires. Continue reading at Hemmings

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

In case you missed it in my blog about my conversation with J Mays, Ford has definite plans to revamp the Ranger. I confirmed this with another Ford designer at Camilo Pardo’s party. But it doesn’t sound like there are any plans for a new Bronco. I plan to follow this story closely, and am thinking something may be revealed at the Chicago show, so stay tuned. This Ranger Max concept shown at the Thailand International Motor Expo last month is said to hint at the future design.