So after what's been the fastest moving summer and fall on record, I've finally built out the garage on the new place and have been tinkering around on my '69. The Stroppe still sits covered waiting for its day in the sun. However, great news arrived yesterday by way of a random phone call from a Texas number.
I got a call from Harold Allen and for the following hour and a half; my ears were filled with stories and timelines of Broncos, Bill Stroppe, Baja, Mexico and all the events that took place during Fords heyday. To start, I haven't come across many gentlemen that have lived a life quite like Harold has and to share in his stories made my day! He was so incredibly humble and thankful for all the experiences and friendships he made throughout his lifetime and career with Ford. Oh, and his memory! Amazing. I can hardly remember last week! He was on point with nearly every name and place as if he were reading a script. Anyway, I'll do my best in recreating our conversation but some of the timelines and names might be off (I was writing as fast as my hand would move).
Harold Allen was the original owner of my Stroppe and when he first saw it sitting on the Kott & Smolar lot, he knew he had to have it. Based on his depictions, I think it was safe to say that he lived a very privileged life at the time. His parents funded his automotive fascinations and by 24yrs old, he had between 4 or 5 brand new cars. Needless to say, when he walked onto the lot that day, he drove off in a Baja. Some of the details I uncovered in our conversation would have never been known. For that, I’m very grateful.
Back to the story: Harold behind the wheel of his new Stroppe. After a couple weeks of driving the Baja through the streets of Palos Verdes and surrounding areas, Harold (HA) decided it was missing a few things. For starters, the manual steering was a dog driving through the windy streets of his hometown. That’s right, this Bronco came from Stroppe’s shop w/o PS. In his search for a modern amenity, he couldn't find any automotive shop that would install power steering. After a couple days of hunting, he called up Dearborn, MI and asked about 10 different people if they knew of anyone doing Bronco power steering conversions. Only one of them knew of a guy out in Temple, CA that did that kind of stuff. Turns out, what the guy confused was Bill Stroppe & Associates on Temple Ave. in Long Beach, CA. Add to that, Temple Ave was a street HA drove daily to attend private school and never once knew of Stroppe's outfit! So at 23yrs old, he pulled into the Stroppe shop looking for the setup. Bobby Spears who worked the parts counter sold him a kit for about $400. Which apparently was a lot of money back then...his parents weren't very thrilled at the price tag. So with the parts in hand, he was sent off to have "anyone" install the kit. He talked to several fab shops and auto shops that all would not take on the job. “It requires too much work,” they said. Upset with his purchase, HA went to take it back. Instead of a refund, Harold met Bill Stroppe that day who when asked what shop installs this stuff said, “Well I designed the kit! I can put it in!” The two of them discussed a couple changes he’d like done to the Bronco and by the end of his visit, he had plans for new PS, an 8-Track stereo that required moving the heater assembly 1” to the right, and ice-cold air condition to be installed by Bruce Eichelberger. I'm not sure who Bruce was so if anyone knows, please enlighten me. Nor do I know when or where the AC unit went but that will be added to the restoration list.
Over the next couple months, HA became a huge fan of Stroppe and all his work. In '72 he attended a U-Haul & Rubicon River Program put on by Ford as a corporate junket for the executives of various companies. I'm unclear as to HA's role at the time but I'm thinking he must have been fresh to the company but knew the right guys to get him an event pass. Anyway, during that trip, the execs got to test all the Ford products while HA tested out his own Stroppe. On the trail, he smashed his driver side rocker panel into a rock. Even telling the story, you could hear the upset that trip cost him. By the end of the night, he had completely forgotten about the damage as watching the executive roughing it in the wild was a comedy show in and of its self. Once back in town, he had Bill personally fix his rocker and re-spray it with Ameron paint (or Armeron) and add diamond plate rocker covers. I had to reconfirm the diamond plate details but Harold insisted that's what he added and not the Stroppe rocker skis that are currently on it now. Those must have been during Rod's ownership.
After about a year of sweating his ass off on the vinyl seats, Harold had one (as in more than one) of his '72 F-150s in the shop getting a tonneau cover installed. The owner of the shop had the same truck but matched his seats and tonneau in a blue/black herringbone fabric. Harold immediately fell in love with that look and hired the guy to re-do his interior with the same material but rather in orange and black.
Harold didn't own the Bronco long. He admits to this day, he has a problem with owning cars; changing things out, modifying here and there, and then selling them within a couple years. That's exactly what happened with the Baja. One day, Rod Hall was in Stroppe's shop and the two of them started talking about buying/selling cars. Rod was on the hunt for a family Baja and Harold was looking to sell. I was hoping it would have been a bit more climactic but in the end, Rod bought the Bronco at a good price and Harold moved on to another model.
I'm hoping to hear from Harold again with news of uncovering original photos of the Bronco, but that may be a while. He recently moved from CA to TX and all his stuff is boxed up in the garage. He did have the original brochure for years but gave it to Willie Stroppe along with over 50 photos of Bill and him throughout the years. I guess Willie is working on a book but not sure if/when that will hit the stands. All other paperwork might be lost for good. I’m hoping the original picture will verify whether it came with slotted mags or chrome steelies. Rod says mags and Harold thinks steelies. I did confirm that the Baja came with the standard 4pt roll bar as well.
I think what’s really special about this story are the chain of events that brought the two car guys together. Harold said it was a job just finding Stroppe in the early days. Yet before that, the sight of a Baja Bronco (of which the name STROPPE meant nothing at the time) transpired into a lifelong journey of product development, automotive marketing, off-road racing, and a great friendship with none other than Bill Stroppe by his side. Over the course of our conversation, Harold shared many iconic events that not only shaped Ford within the automotive market but also himself and Bill within the Ford Company. It was truly an amazing phone call.
-Brody