Another Stroppe Baja Bronco Saved

[toddz69]

Randy from Driven 4x4 Parts here in Phoenix brought his latest acquisition home to the shop on Tuesday. He found this '71 AT/MS truck rotting into the earth many years ago and his persistence in trying to buy it finally paid off. The truck was located several miles from Randy's business and was last registered 20 years ago. It suffered a very light roll (banged up the hardtop and one of the fenders) but will be very restorable and driveable with a little work. It has the bumper braces, dual shocks, flares, rollbar, padded steering wheel, automatic transmission, center seat, and familiar paint job of a Stroppe Baja Bronco. Some cowl rust but otherwise appears to be solid. It's a 4/71 build. As discovered, the truck had chrome steelies with long-ago flattened BFG All-Terrains on it. Underneath that tire cover was a nice surprise - a nice chrome steelie with a Gates Commando tire in very good condition that I believe still holds air. BajaBronco (Andrew) was very helpful in determining a lot of the details on the truck for Randy.

Randy has it displayed in front of the shop so be sure to stop by and take a look if you're interested and in the area. He's not sure what he's going to do with it at this point other than cleaning it up a bit and getting it running. It's about as close to a "barn find" as we get in Arizona.

More encouraging proof that there are some still "out there".

Todd Z.

 

[Ranger345]

Cant wait to see the build thread! Very Cool!

 

[dead road]

The baja that I found had those same goofy bumper uprights on it.

 

[DirtDonk]

Fantastic! Shame it had to sit so long waiting for the right person to come along at the right time. But it's going to have a good home now, and that's a good thing.
Love the fact that the spare was still a Commando too! Nice find.
What about that early build? Is an April '71 Stroppe one of the earlier versions? Seems to me they started in '71, so that might be a real early edition.
Ans what about the front axle? Is it a 30, or a 44? An April "standard" Bronco would likely have had a 30, but wondering if Stropped ever modded any front ends?

Keep the info coming as you find stuff out.

Paul

 

[Blue71]

Thanks for sharing Todd. That's a great find. Glad he is planning of bringing it back to life. Heck...looks pretty good in the pics. Do you know where it was originally sold? Just curious.

Thanks,

Andy
Blue71

 

[broncojack]

Another diamond in the rough discovered.

 

[toddz69]

What about that early build? Is an April '71 Stroppe one of the earlier versions? Seems to me they started in '71, so that might be a real early edition.
Ans what about the front axle? Is it a 30, or a 44? An April "standard" Bronco would likely have had a 30, but wondering if Stropped ever modded any front ends? Paul

Andrew or someone else that knows more about the Bajas will have to tell us more about whether it's a real early one or not. It has a 44 in it - they came along pretty early in the '71 model year so I'm pretty sure this one is stock that way although I know Stroppe was using 44s for the front ends in his race Broncos long before that.

Todd Z.

 

[toddz69]

Do you know where it was originally sold? Just curious.

Thanks,

Andy
Blue71

That's one question I'm really curious about as well. Randy will be ordering a Marti Report on it if he hasn't already so hopefully its original sales location might be known. It has some rust on the passsenger's side cowl but otherwise appears to be pretty solid. The driver's side fender was cut-n-spliced at one point due to the rollover so it no longer has the rolled fender lip on that side. It also has an "interesting" storage compartment in the passenger's side fenderwell that I'll have to take some pictures of. Folks did some weird things back in the day.

Todd Z.

 

[crozetcrew]

I can't wait to see the build. Just once i would love to see a Stroppe in person. ;D Been a bronco fan since I was old enough to talk when my dad was taking my brother and I trail riding in his 66. I'm 39 and he still has his 66. Todd Z... you da man.

Chris

 

[cactushorse]

Very cool, but damn that front bumper is ugly!

 

[cb21]

That's a cool find. Next time I'm in PHX I will have to check it out.

 

[DirtDonk]

You're right Todd. I had a brain freeze (winterized fart) and was thinking that April was early, when in fact it's well past half way into the model year in most years.

Paul

 

[BajaBronco]

Yeah, my NOV '70 built '71 Baja had a D44 from the factory according to the Marti. I have owned a 9/70 71 Bronco that had a 30 however.

I know of more than a couple Bajas with those overriders....

 

[thesnake]

That is cool Todd. Thanks for sharing.

JD

 

[ep67bro]

That what dreams are made of!!!! Nice find!

 

[orangecrush4u]

Nice score, it is amazing that these are still out there hiding!!!

 

[JDJ]

sweet find. Wish I could find a Baja just stuck in a barn like that....maybe one day

 

[2b1ask1]

Congrats on the find...

 

[dead road]

I see that Randy has known about it for a while but is it new to the registry?

 

[BajaBronco]

It is new to the Registry. She was off the radar, now back on. Some of the ones close to it by VIN are also manual steering like this one, but with Stroppe auto. dead road, it was built alongside both of your Bajas.