why a Bronco for you?

[ep67bro]

I have always been a ford fan. Had a 67 mustang but wanted a truck, got a 68 F250 4x4 restored that but it was too big to take off road. I didn't want a jeep like every other person and I wanted a V8. Since I knew Fords of the 60s it just made sense. Found a cheap rust free ($2,200) one back in 2005 and the obsession started! I have had 7 of them since then, Maybe picking up another this weekend. They are addicting as hell, I don't gamble, don't drink much, don't smoke, don't do drugs, I do go fishing, but I drop money faster on broncos than anything else ever!

 

[txtruk15]

anyone else want to chime in?

Have loved EBs since I was a kid, something about them really appealed to me - the aerodynamics of a brick, but they looked cool, they could go anywhere, and they had a simple design that you could work on. My high school friend had a IH Scout and I loved riding in that - no creature comforts but man was it fun to drive! Not quite a bronco but still fun!

As an 11 year old, I had a three ring binder full of magazine and newspaper articles that I clipped out and saved on the bronco (yeah, way before the internet got popular). I wish I still had that three ring binder. I knew someday I would own one, and finally got rid of my vette earlier this year and went completely opposite direction for my first love....

 

[bronconut73]

Have loved EBs since I was a kid, something about them really appealed to me - the aerodynamics of a brick, but they looked cool, they could go anywhere, and they had a simple design that you could work on. My high school friend had a IH Scout and I loved riding in that - no creature comforts but man was it fun to drive! Not quite a bronco but still fun!

As an 11 year old, I had a three ring binder full of magazine and newspaper articles that I clipped out and saved on the bronco (yeah, way before the internet got popular). I wish I still had that three ring binder. I knew someday I would own one, and finally got rid of my vette earlier this year and went completely opposite direction for my first love....

I used to do that too when I was a kid.

I later found this company that actually does it for you.
Neat huh?

 

[sanndmann3]

We have been going to Silver Lake Sand Dunes since 1991. At 1st it was dune buggies and a Ranger 4x4 pickup. somewhere around 1999, I really began noticing the Early Broncos. By 2000 I had one. Been modifying and upgrading it since. Been a lot of fun over the years!

 

[txtruk15]

I used to do that too when I was a kid.

I later found this company that actually does it for you.
Neat huh?

holy crap, I gotta look at that! thanks!

Bob

 

[NC_Pinz]

Why?

Well the one I own was bought new by my step-father and I remember it when it was new. Also I drove it in high school. Since that time, I've always had an affinity for 2 door SUVs. Now it lives in my garage and I'm in the process of bringing it back to a driving state before restoring it. With crap going on at work, it is also my therapy.

 

[blubuckaroo]

It's a Bronco for me because It's all I could afford.
We bought ours when they were out of style and cheap.
Now, after 300k miles, my butt fits the seat perfectly. You couldn't pry me out of it.

 

[sykanr0ng]

The fellow I got my first Bronco from told me that he had looked at getting a Jeep but when he looked at all the modifications he would do to the frame and running gear he realized it would be a Jeep body sitting on what would for all practical purposes be a Bronco.
I found his reasoning well thought out.
When he needed to move across the country I bought his Bronco.
Since then I have seen that there is even more to them than he said.

 

[okorangebrnco]

A Bronco for me because growing up I idolized a 77 F150 my dad had but he always told me he wanted a Bronco. We also used to hang out at several drive train shops in Tulsa and those guys all had Broncos. These Broncos were mild to wild for the early 90's. Fast forward to 1999 and my dad and I got the approval from the banker (Mom) to start looking for a father son project. I started in on dad about building another 77 F150 with a Cleveland, NP435, 38's, etc,. just like the one he built. As the arguments went back and forth for several months, one day we stopped by one of the shops and there set a little red Bronco that was used for pushing sprint cars. I had been all over this Bronco growing up dozens of times and even got to ride in it to chase parts, but never thought anything of it. It wasn't until Danny threw me the keys and said bring it around and pull it in the shop. At 14 I was like um, OK! I jumped in it, flooded it, cranked until the battery started to dwindle down. At the sight of everyone laughing at me, I did not accept defeat and gave it one last Hail Mary and it lit off. In the 500 or so feet I drove it I knew this was what I wanted and I knew it would be a quick sale to dad. Over the next few months we looked at every Bronco we could find with 100 miles. Some were junk at best and some were, well out of our price range. But we finally found one on July 2, 2000. The Bronco started out as my first car to and from school to my "reinventing the wheel" fabrication vehicle, to therapy for the loss of my dad in 2010, to the roles changing and my son and I using it to reflect and keep the spirit of my dad alive. As time has gone on and as I opened this post, I never realized what that little red Bronco started and what my orange Bronco dad I built did for the bond between him and I. Now I cherish the time my son and I spend while wheeling or simply picking him up at school in it.

 

[Broncos n' VWs]

I grew up on Volkswagens, both aircooled and watercooled. I've had numerous bugs, buses, ghias, Corrado, Audis and such. I became friends with dude who had an FJ40 and he needed help with the wiring install. I volunteered and helped get it up and running. He then took me out in the FJ40 up American Fork Canyon in Utah. From that moment on, I knew I needed a vintage SUV. He knew of a friend from his high school days who had a Bronco and though it was still in his possession. We drove by the house, saw if parked up under the carport covered in a sun-rotted blue tarp and years of dust. Chatted with this kid's dad who just happened to be outside mowing the lawn and he proceeded to tell me that his kid had moved to AZ for school and basically abandoned the Bronco because the clutch replacement didn't work (he said the clutch was bad). Dad then proceeded to tell me that his property has gone under contract and he was moving in a few weeks and he was just going to donate the Bronco to charity. Talk about perfect timing (I say it was divine intervention). Needless to say, I was very convincing to have him sell it to me and I would have it off his propery that same evening. I won't mention exactly what I paid for it, but it would be a paltry sum for most of us here. With title in hand and the tires aired up, we dragged it a few miles to my home. That was way back in 2003 and I have been hooked since and pretty much lost interest in anything VW. Oh... The clutch that "was bad"... turned out the transfer case was a sloppy j-shift that had managed to be in neutral.

 

[BRONCITIS74]

In the summer of 1986, my wife and I were vacationing in Ouray, Colorada. We had a Ford van and were travelling and camping in it. At the campgrounds where we stayed they also rented Jeeps for a day. I had to talk her in to it, but we rented one and went up in the mountains. What a rush! I had never done any wheeling and was hooked. A couple of days later, we were in Silverton and three early Broncos rolled into town. Every one that I had ever seen till then was uncut and not lifted. These three were lifted and had large tires on them. We talked to the guys and found they were cruising the back roads in the mountains and just having a good time. Although I had never driven one or even thought about owning one, I was hooked. The jeep rental and then the Broncos did it. When we returned home to Illinois (where we lived in those daze) found a '75 Bronco that was for sale about 2 blocks from our house. I bought it. Then I bought a "71 and my wife bought a '76 with a half cab one it. We were a 3 Bronco family. By 2001 all the Broncos had been sold. I can't believe I sold them, but oh well. Two years ago I got Bronco fever again and bought a '74. Thats where we are today.

 

[Pa PITT]

Good Post Tasker .
& I'm hoping to start or restart on a 68 I have.

 

[tasker]

love the stories....keep em coming!

 

[TDubya]

Growing up Dad had a '73 Highboy and the neighbor had a '73 Bronco. I honestly didn't think much of the Bronco at the time. Around 1981 we bought a '78 Bronco that I thought Dad was going to pass down to me when I started driving. Well I turned 16 and Dad bought a brand new '87 Bronco, but sold the '78. Said a struggling teenager wouldn't like the mileage so I got a '79 Courier. In high school my friend's dad had a nice stock '76 that I bugged him for years to sell to me. He instead gave it to his son. We went hunting, fishing and cruising in that thing and that's when I knew I had to have one. After high school I started looking in the local papers for one and found a stock 1975 Ranger that I bought in 1993. It was my daily driver for about 5 years, now its a toy that I still like to take out and play with!

 

[Action]

Late 60's early 70's my dad sold ford trucks. His demo was always a Bronco.....So I always knew I had to have 1. I have had mine for 30 years or so now.
Jack

 

[Crush]

Always was into trucks, had several as teen. But always wanted a Jeep. from 1980 to last year My father had a used car lot and we got a bronco in and I fell in love. it was rusted pretty bad though so I passed on it. he had it bondod up and sold it on the lot. that was the only one we ever had. lol. fast forward to about 93 I got the hankering for another one and found my 76. traded for it and then 18 years later i found my 77 and bought it. always on the lookout for another

 

[sprdv1]

and then your hooked..

In the summer of 1986, my wife and I were vacationing in Ouray, Colorada. We had a Ford van and were travelling and camping in it. At the campgrounds where we stayed they also rented Jeeps for a day. I had to talk her in to it, but we rented one and went up in the mountains. What a rush! I had never done any wheeling and was hooked. A couple of days later, we were in Silverton and three early Broncos rolled into town. Every one that I had ever seen till then was uncut and not lifted. These three were lifted and had large tires on them. We talked to the guys and found they were cruising the back roads in the mountains and just having a good time. Although I had never driven one or even thought about owning one, I was hooked. The jeep rental and then the Broncos did it. When we returned home to Illinois (where we lived in those daze) found a '75 Bronco that was for sale about 2 blocks from our house. I bought it. Then I bought a "71 and my wife bought a '76 with a half cab one it. We were a 3 Bronco family. By 2001 all the Broncos had been sold. I can't believe I sold them, but oh well. Two years ago I got Bronco fever again and bought a '74. Thats where we are today.

 

[Nothing Special]

I posted my short story back on page 4 of this thread. For the back story, my dad was a mechanical engineer, and his dad was always tinkering with his boat or car or something. I was 9 when I got my first go-kart and could start to follow in their footsteps. When I was 11 I found the coolest magazine at a stand and used some of my paper-route money to get a subscription to Pickup, Van and 4WD. And then when I was 12 my dad bought a 1929 Model A as a father-son project, which set the hook for me with project vehicles (I think I was really hooked even before that).

No one in my family was loyal to any particular brand, so I dreamed about them all. Jeep CJs and Ford pickups seemed to come to the top pretty frequently for me, but I was still really bummed in 1976 when I found out that the Bronco was going to be "discontinued" soon.

When my dad was having me pick out my college graduation present (I've got a great dad!) I figured a truck would be a lot more practical than a Jeep (and I wanted something that could tow the Model A, which was in the middle of a frame-up rebuild at that point). So I got an '85 F-250. Then I got a job with General Motors and had a long, salty commute in the winter, so I bought a '75 CJ5 as a winter beater / future project.

After the Model A was done I tore into the Jeep, and a few years after it was done I sold the Model A (I couldn't justify 2 toys, and the Jeep was more fun). I was married with 2 kids then, and the Jeep worked OK for a while, but my boys legs outgrew the back seat of the CJ5, and with 4 people there was no room to pack a lunch in it. So I started looking for a bigger trail vehicle.

I really liked the FJ-40, but a neighbor who had one convinced me that parts were too expensive for them. I was looking for a nice '70 ~ '72 K5 Blazer, but my wife thought they were too ugly. So I ended up coming back to an early Bronco. That makes it sound like a Bronco was kind of a last choice, but it really was in consideration the whole time. I just had started with a pretty open search and everything else fell away.

I still have a soft spot in my heart for CJs, and would love to have one again (I sold the CJ5 while I was building the Bronco). I like the smaller size and the more open feel on the trail. But I still can't justify 2 toys and the Bronco is so much more comfortable. And although I prefer easily removed soft doors at times, hard doors with roll-up windows are awfully nice most of the time. I wouldn't rule out getting another CJ sometime, but it won't be at the expense of the Bronco!

 

[tasker]

ANY newbies care to add to the story?

 

[martinphoto]

While in the Army I was stationed at a tiny base called Vint Hill Farms. Closed now. While there my best friend had a '69 bone stock with 6 cyl. and 3 on the tree. We used to go wheelin with a group of guys from base. CJ's, a really nice Land Cruiser with small block chevy, and a 70 something dodge on 44's.
That little Bronco ran circles around all of them out on the powerline trails and a couple of times at Quantico on the tank trails. Had me sold. When I left the Army I went back home to Illinois and one of my dad's neighbors had a '73 sitting in the pasture. I got it for $500. It was a basket case of rust and didn't run. I bought a '74 that I came across at a car lot for $975. It was in better shape and ran but the tub was cut in half right at the striker posts. Held together with the body bolts, a little brazing in the rockers and a piece of angle iron with screws into the floor on both sides of the seam that was fiber glassed.
Anyway I did a frame off on the '73 with rebuilt 302 and C4. Then I swapped the body from the 74 to the 73 frame. Welded everything up the way it should have been. Drove it to Idaho. Traded it for a 69 Cougar. Had a new family. Now I'm in the middle of a rebuild on my 4th and probably my last. Getting to pricey and I don't have time to work on this one let alone another.