Anyone remember the days when...

[reamer]

First gens' were on the lot?

 

[nickgp]

That's totally cool! Remember a used 77 sitting on Gaudin Fords lot used, around 86 is so. Was asking 8,500!

 

[56f100bbw]

When I was in high school in Santa calif in the late 60s I went down to the GMAC Repo lot and found a 66 bronco it was kind of beat up so I bought a 67 Camaro for 750 bucks it was 2 years old with 30k miles what a deal but I still think about that bronco

 

[Broncobowsher]

My first one came off a Chevy/Toyota used car lot back in '90.

Saw a few more in the early 90s. Before they were collectable.

 

[nvrstuk]

I am so old I went with my Dad (as a kid) to try them out before he ordered his.

 

[huskybul]

As a young parent with dreams of finding an affordable jeep and with my two young sons with me, (pre Mt St Helens eruption, so late 70s), I spotted a "jeep looking vehicle". It was located at one of the many small used car lots that seem to appear and then disappear so quickly. One of the things that caused me to wonder about this particular vehicle was what seemed to me to be a somewhat comical combination of body colors. Why would anyone combine a red/white body, blue top and black hood ? As it turned out when the young salesman came out to help me, he explained that the Bronco was on the lot on consignment. By the time he came out I had noticed that it had dual shocks and a roll bar. After asking about the strange color combo he retreated to the office and returned to explain that this Bronco was what was called a Baja version (which meant nothing to me at the time). After a short test drive with the boys in the backseat I returned to the car lot and asked about the price. The young salesman again explained that the Baja Bronco was there on consignment and the asking price was $2000, but suggested that the owner would be willing to take less. History will show that I left with the boys in tow, unimpressed with the color scheme and certain that my wife wouldn't have allowed the Baja in the driveway. Fortunately I found a 72 Bronco Sport some years later and have learned to both enjoy and appreciate what I have and deeply regret my youthful ignorance !

 

[nvrstuk]

Cool story huskbul....

I paid exactly 2k for my '68 on June 28, 1976 with 50K miles. You're in Yak. I'm 25 miles north. I pm'd you to say hi.

 

[reamer]

Just imagine what that Stroppe Bronco is worth today....

 

[MarsChariot]

I paid $1800 in 1976 for my 71 that had about 50k miles on it. Accounting for inflation, in today's dollars that would be $8600. Still a good deal by today's standards considering it was essentially pristine and original. Even then they were not all that easy to find, but certainly still on the used car market.

 

[distended]

The first time I noticed a 1st gen Bronco was probably around late 1986, was on a used car lot. It was dark green and I was in love. I wanted it so bad so I talked to my Dad about it. He said he went ant looked at it and wouldn't let me get it. Said the front axle had been broken and was welded to repair it. Didn't let him stop me though. A few months later I got my 71 from the guy who was dating my older sister at the time. Went to Boot Camp in late November of 1988 I sold it to my friend for $500, bought it back from him in 2010 for $1100. Wasn't the best investment from him but worked out for me.

 

[73azbronco]

My best friends dad bought a 76, his kid, my friend, drove it like he stole it.

 

[bigmuddy]

I bought my first off a Toyota dealers lot in the early 90's. Traded it for a Toyota pickup with low miles to the dealer and the dealer gave me cash back with the bronco.
The bronco was very clean and I wished I had never sold it... Eventually, I went through buying and selling a bunch before rolling one down the highway along with a new pickup and trailer.. A year later I bought a bronco, ranger model that was quite clean in Moberly MO off a used lot for $8,000 and I really thought I got hosed as it was a stupid amount of money for the time. I remember the guy saying, damn I wish I had a 100 of these...
That was about 20 years ago.

 

[broncosam]

I sure do. In late '76 I went to the Ford dealership closest to me to order my first Ford truck, which was going to be a '77 F150 short bed 4x4. I had just sold the first 4x4 vehicle I had ever owned, a 1972 International Scout II. When I got to the dealership the first vehicle I looked at was a still new 1976 Ford Bronco. The dealership had done some mods to it, cut fenders and flairs, old school lift of some kind, white spoke wheels and a set of 12x32 tires of some brand on white spoke wheels. I was looking hard at it and was considering buying it when the boss said, isn't that the same thing you just sold, I thought you wanted a truck.

 

[Speedrdr]

Went with my best friend to order a ‘77 because they were changing body style to the full size in ‘78. Optioned it like he wanted it and took delivery from the dealer the Saturday after it arrived. Wrote a check to them for $5,800 off the lot. Bought my 1st EB (a ‘72) in ‘81 for $2,700. Wish I had it back! Bought my 2nd EB in ‘19 for $6,000. This one is still a work in progress.

Randy

 

[Rustytruck]

I graduated 1977 and the first gens were gone. Christmas eve 1977 I bought my 1974 used on a jeep lot with 10,000 miles on it for 4,500.00 on a 3 year loan at 14% interest. paid it in payments with 1500 down. I looked to buy one for 2 years and almost no one would part with them even though we just went through the gas wars. working full time at 2.00 an hour it was allot of money for me at the time. Being my life was self funded I couldn't afford to go anywhere except for work. i think it was close to 5 years before it ever hit a piece of dirt. when I did take it out I couldn't shift the transfer case into gear due to a bad J shifter. By then I knew a few Bronco folks who couldn't shift it either. it took along time to get it figured out and shifting. Funniest thing was it took me 2 years to understand what pull to heat meant and 3 years to figure out what its like to flip the passengers seat forward to get in and out. teenagers don't need such things. it was almost ten years later before I found an owners manual for it. OH those were the days pre internet. Azusa canyon was our playground back then close and cheep.

 

[71 CA Bronco]

Bought my bone stock 72 from a rancher in 1988 $2700. Of course cut the fenders the first week I had it. Put 35's on it and hammered the heck out of it in the mud and Pismo. Met my future wife in it. Sold it about 5 years later for $6,000. Wife and I always missed that Bronco.

 

[BronCowie]

I remember seeing my first EB on TV watching "The FBI". In the opener they showed them driving around in an FBI EB, very cool. I think the show was sponsored by Ford.

Unfortunately (or whatever) I grew up as a kid in a Cheby family. I do remember my mom and grandmother, both taking their old Impalas in for a trade in. Mom had a '58 and grandma had a '59. They both bought new '62 Impalas, grandma just had to have a SS... bucket seats, console, 327/4 bbl. Very cool car that my older brother bought from her later and made a street hot rod out of it.

 

[Waldo]

Bought my 75 in 1993 from the original owners and took it to northern Japan for 3 years. Probably the only Bronco in Japan as they had strict import rules and safety requirements. For example the brake light and turn single could not be on the same bulb/lens. Had to convert the reverse lights into blinkers to get it registered. Also unusual over there as our cars are right side drive, but Japan is left side drive. Had many times at a stop sign/intersection trying to remember which side of the road I was turning onto! Hadn't planned on keeping but still have it today almost 30 years later!

 

[dougsride]

I remember back in the early 90's a policeman stopped by while I was in the yard to comment about the 74 sport I had. He told me that a dealership near Raleigh had an early bronco that was in showroom condition in the showroom and the dealership owner wanted 10 thousand for it. I thought he was crazy asking that kinda price. Who's crazy now?

 

[bmc69]

One of my HS girlfriends Dad bought a new one in 1974. He enjoyed sporting around in the snow with it, taking us along.

Farm next to ours..the wife bought a new EB in the early 70s and then traded that one in for a brand new loaded '77 when she heard they were discontinuing the model. She offered it to me as an even trade for some landscaping I did on a new house they built. They owed me about $3000 and the EB (white with orange stripes if I recall correctly) had about 20,000 garage-kept miles on it at the time (1981). I declined her offer...said cash was better.