why a Bronco for you?

dave67fd · Jan 11, 2017

In my early teens, a guy who worked for my dad and did odd jobs around our house owned a 67 Mustang 289. First time I rode in it I was hooked on Ford Muscle. He later purchased a new 78 Fullsize and I loved that too. He had alot of early influence on me and I looked up to him quite a bit.

Growing up I didn't know anyone that had owned an EB and can't really ever recall seeing any of them around.
One day back in the late 80's, when driving down the road, my wife and I saw this EB that caught our eye. I commented to her, "I have to own one of those some day".
Several months later the wife was headed to the Insurance company to pay a bill. As she was about to enter, she realized the insurance company had just recently moved by evidence of the notice listed on the door. It listed the new address and number they had moved to. Only being a few minutes away she arrived at the new location, paid the bill and then left. As she decided to drive around the back of this small strip mall, she came upon the same EB we had seen months prior with a "for sale" sign in the window. A week later it was mine.

I drove it for 5 years as a daily driver and wheeled it on the weekends. It then sat in my yard for nearly the next 20. People told me to sell it but couldn't bring myself to do it. Owned a 94' in 99' and had that for nearly 7 years.

Once I could afford to have a garage built, she went in as soon as it was finished and I started tearing it apart. It really sparked my inner love for these things. As many others have said, I have met many wonderful people and several great friends in the process. Now I just need to get her done%)

DJs74 · Jan 11, 2017

In 1973, I was 5 years old. My dads best friend was a "Ford" guy and he bought a brand new '73 from our home town Ford dealer. My dad and his buddy hunted several properties and once in a while I got to go. They would take turns driving and picking each other up. The morning I got to go, it was my dad's buddies turn to drive and he picked us up in the Bronco! Wow! I believe I became a Bronco guy at 5
It was dark when we started out but I still remember sitting in the back seat... had it all to myself and it actually felt like a big seat back then. I held onto both armrests and was mesmerized by the view through the windshield of the hood and those beautiful front fenders... even at 5 years old, I noticed the fenders. The ride home later in the day was even better because the sun was shining and I got an even better look at the hood and those beautiful fenders... did I mention I loved the fenders?
The other thing I remember vividly was the 3 speed shifter on the column, my dads friend was the coolest "shifter" I ever saw. He would take off in low, turn around, look at me, smile, and chirp the rear tires in second. The Bronco was pea green (not sure what the official green was) exterior with white interior.
Same Bronco but different trip, my dad and his buddy both killed bucks and we all know how much cargo area our Broncos have... pretty much none. What I'm about to tell you is true and my dad has a picture of it somewhere which I will try to get, scan and post.
They strapped both bucks to the hood of the Bronco and brought them down the road!
Deer blood and scratches galore, true story and I'm pretty sure I'm in the photo.
I purchased my first Bronco in 1986 @ age 18. It was a 1976, Copper body with a white top, white spoke wheels, uncut, 302, 3 speed on the column.

So, I can say with confidence that I became a Bronco man (boy) at 5 years old.

DJs74

Skiddy · Jan 11, 2017

when I was young my uncle had a scout that he and my dad would take us hunting for two weeks at a time. Had either a four wheel drive or a truck that I thought was four wheel drive up until about 15 years ago. I would take my F250 4x4 and wheel the crap out of it and try to fix it so I could go to work the next day, it was my daily driver. Thinking I really should get something else and quite tearing up my daily driver.
A buddy of mine kept trying to get me to buy one of his buddies bronco. Wasn't interested in it as my brother had a 84 full size and I thought they are really just too big and heavy to four wheel. I was looking for something smallish, looked at some scouts, yota's even a Sammy.
Got to talking to my buddy and he finally said that his buddies bronco was a 75 the small one. Ohhh yeah I knew what they were and always liked them. Besides always been a die hard ford man, especially the f100's had a few.
I went and looked at it and it was rusty like crazy. Got on hear doing some more research on them. and holy cow you all were doing crazy things with them as well some great looking ones. I had then made up my mind to buy my buddies bronco. (2001) It was rusted to hell, wood floor boards, 1x4's behind door post's%) pretty much all stock. put a 3.5" lift on it 35's wheeled it for a while, had the stock two barrel carb and it even ran laying on it's side

it needed so many upgrades to make it like I wanted. I found the 74 (2003) that I have now, no rust, efi, locked front and rear, winch, good paint, rhino lined inside, 2.5" lift ect. (bad thing is I had redo a lot of what the po done

) bought it and wheel the crap out of it. the paint is now faded, peeling in some places. but can get in it and go wherever I need to, except not street legal right now.

Nothing Special · Jan 11, 2017

bronconut73 said:
....Why the new Bronco?
Because I'm a Bronco idiot. No matter what Ford produces....If they slap a Bronco logo on it.... I'm gonna buy it...I realized that about 4 years ago....

As far as the new Bronco goes? I can't imagine I'll be interested. I don't care that much about names, and Ford hasn't made a truck I'm interested in owning since 1997 (I'm still a Ford guy though, Chevy hasn't made a truck I'm interested in since the '80s and no one else really ever has).

But if the new Bronco comes with 4 doors my wife might see it as a good replacement for the '93 Explorer she used to have.

Sunnyboy · Jan 11, 2017

In 1969 coming back on leave and a pocket full of money I bought a 1968 Cameron SS 396, a couple of years later now with a family my wife and I bought a 1974 Bronco Explorer as our family car. 5 years later traded it in on another vehicle, I've been wanting one again and 2 weeks ago I bought a 68 289 halfcab, kids are all gone with kids of there own and it's my time again.

blubuckaroo · Jan 11, 2017

I was I high school auto shop and one of the students was a rich rancher's kid. He showed up with one new in '69. We got to do a bunch of mods on it. Back then you had to fab up most of the stuff yourself.
Well I fell in love with it.
In '76 I found out that '77 would be the last year. We went down and put in a factory order for a '77.
We had to wait three months for it because back then the manufacturers had to sell a quota of "mileage vehicles" for each gas hog, in order to keep the fleet mileage up.
That was a long three months for sure!

POPPAWS BRONCO · Jan 11, 2017

Some of my earliest memories are of my Poppaw and his 77 Bronco. I remember when I was to young to go to deer camp with him and my uncle. They would leave on Friday night and I'd have to stay with Gram maw(that was fun too). But I knew I was missing Man stuff. On Sunday they would come back home with a Muddy truck, deer meat, 2 day old beards, and funny stories about all of it. All I knew was they left in that cool clean green and white Bronco and when they came back they were different. You could smell and feel the manhood. The big boys got to go to deer camp and ride in the Bronco. I wanted it, I begged to go every weekend. When I was 4 I got to go for the first time, just for a day and my mom and grand mother took me in the car. But, when we got there Poppaw took me for a ride in the Bronco. I remember the sound the mud made on the tires. The hypnotizing sound of the exhaust easing down the old dirt roads. Poppaw tell me to keep an eye out for deer in the woods as we went. We turned around in a big field with high lines running over it. I can still hear the buzzing sound from all the electricity. I remember the 3 deer running from the feild as we entered. It was everything I knew it would be. I was all grown up now.

Few weeks later I stayed with my grandparents for the weekend again. Poppaw said "we might go to the deer camp in the morning". Well he thought I'd forget maybe or something, I don't know. But the next morning he was not in a hurry to leave and I for the life of me couldn't fathom why. He must have drank 4 cups of coffee and read the entire news paper. Finally I said Poppaw when are we going to leave. He says to me, to meee. Where are we gonna go? The deer camp Poppaw!!! Last light you said we were going! He said son you'll freeze to death it's 4 degrees outside. To which I replied, "the Bronco has heat and I got camo". After some pleading he said "if the Bronco will even start in the cold we can go". He got the keys and headed out back. It took a min but I'll never forget the purring of the engine when she fired over and settled in a fast idle. He backed up the drive way and parked in front of the carport door, I could see the heat from the exhaust make smoke in the cold as it idled. And warmed up. After what seemed like an eternity (30mins) we drove to the camp. Heat on high. Me wrapped in sleeping bags and camo. After we got there ice was on everything the camp was frozen. We drove around all day breaking through ice over every mud puddle. Deer running everywhere trying to stay warm in the cold... it was me, Poppaw, two of his buddies, cold cokes, moon pies, honey buns, and lots of laughs. It's one of my favorite days in my life.

I grew up repeating different versions of that story. Poppaw, the deer camp, fishing trips, and the Bronco was the center piece of all that bonding with him. When I was 12 he started letting me drive at the camp. I had to look through the steering wheel those days to to see the road. "Mash the break put it in D and easy on the gas. Stop and put it in N if I needed to pull transfer-case into 4x4". He'd say.

First time I drove on the blacktop road I was pulling a boat from deer camp to gen lake. (That was in 83 F100 though). We got to the lake and he said put the boat on the water and don't dent my boat or the truck and he just left me to figure it out. Took three try's but I did it and he just sat on a stump and ate an orange and watched. Lol.

Why a Bronco you ask? I grew up in it. It's as much apart of me as I am it. I lost Poppaw in Feb 2014. The Bronco had not run in 3 years. He left it to me and I've got her back on the road now. Still have a lot more to do to restore her fully, but I smile and think about him when I drive her around. I Stopped and watched some deer in a feild a few days after Christmas I know he would have liked that.

Hey!!! Let me hold a dollar I'm in the middle of a restore here!

Jc.av8r · Jan 12, 2017

I had a friend in highschool that used to drive his Dad's restored EB to school from time to time, and I just thought it was the coolest thing I'd ever seen at the time.

Fast forward to my 30's and I find out it's my wife's dream car. I'm sure plenty others here know the joy in having wife approval for the purchase and restoration of an EB. (Just don't tell them the truth about how much it costs!)

tasker · Jan 25, 2017

keep them coming in...love reading these

Bukin 67 · Jan 25, 2017

To start off with, my love for the Bronco started in the late 60s when I was a kid camping with my parents and their group. One of the guys named Homer surprised everyone by arriving into camp over the hill right next to camp in his Bronco. I thought that was the coolest and that image always stuck with me. I've always had a love for EB's, early FJ's and flat fender Willys.

The opportunity to own one never presented itself until '97 when a girl that worked for me ran into hard times and needed to sell her '67, not running with the t/c and 3 on the tree apart sitting in the back bed. It was pretty rust free and she was second owner. I had a CJ5 and a 1 yr old daughter at the time so I wasn't ready to take on a project. I had a couple of friends that said they wanted it, but no one came through. In the end I went ahead and bought it to help her out since my friends bailed. After I picked it up and really compared it to the CJ I decided to sell the CJ it to fix up the EB.... or at least start phase I, lol.

In 2005 i bought a '74 that already had some major work done and planned on selling the '67 but instead I sold the '74 after a couple years and decided to keep my original. 2 or 3 owners later I think the '74 ended up in Thailand.

To this day love for the EB runs strong in my family, and we have made many memories with ours. My kids have never known life without an EB and it's hard to imagine the day when the spot in the garage that belongs to my Bronco is empty, or has something else in it's place.

When I first brought her home

Racing in the 2015 NORRA 1000

Me and our Racing Crew in Baja

Stiff spring rates make it tough to articulate when 4 wheeling, but it still gets me there!

LouisT · Jan 26, 2017

The simple answer is....Because it's a Bronco! But all seriousness aside, in the summer or either '65, '66 or maybe '67, I dearly wish I knew, either in one of the hunting/fishing mags or possibly it was one of the off road ones that were floating around; they road tested a new Bronco. The guy went from highway to mountains all in one day and was talking about driving on the road in the "mid-70 mph range" and then on the next page he was in a light snow up in the mountains in low range crawling around. You know how those guys used to write back in the day and I was hooked like a bass! It took me 15 years to get around to buying one! It's just something that can't easily be put into words....you know....like.. trying to describe sex!!

HB73 · Jan 27, 2017

Bukin 67 said:
To start off with, my love for the Bronco started in the late 60s when I was a kid camping with my parents and their group. One of the guys named Homer surprised everyone by arriving into camp over the hill right next to camp in his Bronco. I thought that was the coolest and that image always stuck with me. I've always had a love for EB's, early FJ's and flat fender Willys.

The opportunity to own one never presented itself until '97 when a girl that worked for me ran into hard times and needed to sell her '67, not running with the t/c and 3 on the tree apart sitting in the back bed. It was pretty rust free and she was second owner. I had a CJ5 and a 1 yr old daughter at the time so I wasn't ready to take on a project. I had a couple of friends that said they wanted it, but no one came through. In the end I went ahead and bought it to help her out since my friends bailed. After I picked it up and really compared it to the CJ I decided to sell the CJ it to fix up the EB.... or at least start phase I, lol.

In 2005 i bought a '74 that already had some major work done and planned on selling the '67 but instead I sold the '74 after a couple years and decided to keep my original. 2 or 3 owners later I think the '74 ended up in Thailand.

To this day love for the EB runs strong in my family, and we have made many memories with ours. My kids have never known life without an EB and it's hard to imagine the day when the spot in the garage that belongs to my Bronco is empty, or has something else in it's place.

When I first brought her home

Racing in the 2015 NORRA 1000

Me and our Racing Crew in Baja

Stiff spring rates make it tough to articulate when 4 wheeling, but it still gets me there!

This one is in Thailand, can't imagine there are too many out there.

Sent from my SM-N920P using Tapatalk

dmplatt · Jan 27, 2017

When I was a freshman in college I happened to spot one parked in front of my dorm. I had never seen one, had no idea what it was, wanted it immediately. To me it was so much better looking than the Jeeps, and seemed to have unlimited capabilities with the right budget. So I started a little research, kept up reading various 4x4 magazines, and kept dreaming about them for years. When I was in a financial/life position to finally buy one I could never find the right thing - 20 years after that first spotting I happened upon a local listing which made it a lot easier to pull the trigger and brought mine home.

West Tn Dawg · Jan 27, 2017

trekgurl said:
It was early 1975 and I was home on leave and I had $1800 dollars that I had saved and I found a red 1975 Z-28 camaro that I had to have. My parents had settled down some over the fact that there daughter enlisted in the Marine Corps because I didn't want to go to Baptist college. Too many rules I thought and jumped from the frying pan into the fire,, that was smart%) duh,, lol. Anyway that red Z-28 was hot and I was going to look hot in it and took my daddy to see it one day after he got off work. We looked at that car for over an hour, test drove it,, and I was dying to have it. My daddy didn't say no but he didn't say yes and he mumbled something about " crazy kids , 4 on the floor, 3 on the three, fifith under the seat". He said wait until saturday and if the car was still there we'd go look at it again.

That was on a Wednesday and on that Friday my dad got off work early and told me he had a friend coming by and he had a 4 wheel drive he was wanting to sell. So the guy comes by and he's got this 1974 sandpiper yellow bronco with the white top,, brown plaid curtains in the back, it was cut out in the back with 10x15 desert dawgs on it and other than a roll bar and chrome air cleaner it was bone stock. I'd never seen a bronco before up close and never even thought about one as I was car crazy. Well this guy "Wayne" proceeds to tell me all about the bronco and asked me to go 4 wheeling that night and he'd show me how it worked. So that night we went, with some jeeps, a scout, few land cruisers, couple big blazers,, and that sh_t was a blast. We went places a billy goat couldn't walk, and forded creeks with water up the doors, and mud holes big a lakes. That bronco never missed a beat,, and there was a lot of vehicles with body damage that night and the broncos and jeeps cleaned everything.

Now being the level headed thinking person I was (remember the Marine Corps enlistement thought process, %) ) I was hooked. I had more fun than I knew exsisted that night and I wanted that bronco. My daddy didn't know we went four wheeling cause a visited a car wash about 3 am after we came out of the woods and made it look shiny again. Next day I told my daddy I would buy the Bronco and I think I heard a sigh of relief? Monday I went the bank and got a loan for the remainder of the $4400 I paid for it.

Top speed 92 mph, longest jump 28ft (my daddy was witness, cause he was riding with me, honest ) stuck 3 times (and I mean freakn buried and got that what the h-ll were you thinking lQQk). Been in two white outs (one local and one on the Blue ridge parkway with wind blowing 50kts) and not another soul in site and that bronco never let me down. Almost rolled it twice,,(showing off in 2wd) and had to change my pants,, one brake failure (nearly died of heart attack) , 1 drive shaft, several wheel bearings, 3 clutches (what can I say I was hard on the clutch), one driver side window (broke when slamming my door, mad at my friend boy, and various miscellaneous parts from normal wear and tear but it would keep on going and going.

Way back,,, I'd drive from Durham, NC to Jacksonville Florida many times,,, about 3 1/2 tanks of gas, and a partial fillup when I got there. Sometimes drove back and forth in the same weekend and truckers knew me as yellow doggie (KAAD 1855) on the cb, with that big ole whip. Slept in it, ate it, parked in it,, haha,,,carried all my cr@p it in (gurl has some luggage too). Went fishing in it so many times it knew the way to the coast by itself. Pulled out countless stuck cars, trucks and my daddy pulled a state motor grader out of the ditch one time. Never will forget my daddy and the look on his face when I came home on leave and I had ordered a set of Appliance headers. I asked him to help me put them on and him being a carpenter by trade we both knew nothing about what we were doing. Six or 7 hours later and a lot of cursing I cranked it up and it sounded like farm tractor and my daddy looked at me like I had lost my mind,, as I drove out the driveway around the neighborhood with uncapped headers. My daddy sure did love me alright.

11 years later and 188,000 hard miles I sold that bronco for a $1000 and always regretted it. It never left me stranded when it counted.. only messed up when my friends made me do it, haha. Dang bronco gave me so many memories and took me so many places, so many I cannot remember them all. That bronco probably saved my life,,, thinking back to when I had to have that Z-28.

My Mom just passed passed a few months ago,,my daddy is nearing 91yrs old and rounding that corner,,, I'm getting on too %) and when I round my final corner I hope its wide open with no regrets. If you look out back there's still a damn bronco there and my daddy keeps asking me when I'm going to get the mufflers fixed ;D,,, you can't make this stuff up.

Why a Bronco for me? . destiny.......

.

Thats a great story!!!!!
And thanks for your service as well!
YOU GO GURL!!!!!!!;D

sprdv1 · Jan 27, 2017

tasker said:
keep them coming in...love reading these

X2.... Great stuff

deltarat · Jan 27, 2017

I had a 2wd pickup back in '71 and was duck hunting every day carrying guns and decoys a 1/2 mile across a muddy field. I started hunting with my new BIL and his dad that had a bronco. We just drove out in the field to the spot and put out our stuff. One of us had to take the bronco off but didn't have to carry anything. I had to have one.
In the gumbo of the Ms. delta they are the best thing made. I have hunted around jeeps and 4x4 trucks and nothing will keep up with a bronco.

Mtgrizzlymn · Jan 27, 2017

Wanted one since I was 16 finally in my 40s I said screw it I live once I want one and bought one. I don't drive in winter fear of rust from chemicals. I have a good body but would like a brand new body all lined undercoated so I could drive year round. Summer I drive everyday

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

tasker · Nov 22, 2017

anyone else want to chime in?

bronconut73 · Nov 22, 2017

Why do I have an eb?

I have told the story here many times....lets just say that my old man made me....I wanted a Chevy Malibu, lol....he said, "That's just stupid"....and we got an eb...
Good old Dad....Father does know best...lol

sprdv1 · Nov 22, 2017

bronconut73 said:
Why do I have an eb?

I have told the story here many times....lets just say that my old man made me....I wanted a Chevy Malibu, lol....he said, "That's just stupid"....and we got an eb...
Good old Dad....Father does know best...lol

Yes they do.. lol Uncle/s Turned me on to em at a young age..

why a Bronco for you?

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