Here is a run down written by My good friend Hal Sealund.
The bronco is on the Stroppe brochure with Bill standing in front. It was built buy Holman Moody and Stroppe and used by the Hearst family at the Hearst castle.
Somehow, Ed Perry, father of Dann, ended up with it. Ed was in fleet sales for Pearson Ford in San Diego and also owned the start up Ed Perry Tire Company, a small shop that sold Gates tires. The original Bronco had a cloth top. This was the first Bronco I had seen and it was the Trail Boss Bronco in a Tierra Del Sol Safari held in Borrego Springs, CA.
After that Dan Drove it in two Baja 1000's. I brought it back from LaPaz after the 1968 race.
I bought it from Ed Perry for $1,800 after the 1969 race, but didn't get the cloth top or cloth doors. I had it prepped and ran 3 Baja races ending in 1971. After that I had Drick Malone, our partnership of K Bar S and CRS, (California Racing Specialties), put in the 351. Just had to have more power! Kurt Strecker, owner of Viva Broncos in El Cajon poured a 6 pack into me one night and convinced me that for $3,500 he could make it into a REAL Baja racer. Ken Rice was a long time friend and decided he would get involved. Before it got started Kurt was moving to another new location for his Bronco business and not tying the body down, it blew off the truck and was demolished. That ended the association and Ken took over production in his garage. I made the deal with him that I would own and supply the Bronco and $, he would build, maintain and for which he and his brother Greg, would get to drive and race. I did also ride in 12 of the races. The brothers did all the work or farmed out as needed.
After the Rice brothers retired, I made the same deal with a Mike Wilson from Las Vegas. John knew of him. Mike also drove a Dodge and a H--p in Mint races. We raced, oh, three or so and he gave it up. Steve Olliges, whose Dad owns Friendly Ford in Las Vegas, also ran some races. Steve has his own dealership now, Team Ford in Las Vegas and was quite successful later in racing the stock pickup class. Then in 1985 I sold the Bronco to John and a group and I retained some shares in Thunder, Inc until that ended and the rig came back for storage in my shop in Borrego Springs. John called me one day and said a customer of his, Scooter Holder in Houston had a interest in Thunder and he thought we should sell it. John & I made the trip and delivered it to Scooter.
