UPDATED HERE! JUNE 12, 2017 CLICK HERE
FORD Bronco Turns 50, From the 1965 Model Year Offering, Detroit Now Looks To 2018
Originally designed to compete with the Jeep CJ-5 and the International Scout, the Bronco was first seen in these 1965 Ford commercials bouncing around in the desert, while an enthusiastic announcer introduces it as the “first four-wheel drive sports car.” This was a world where station wagons were the common family car in place of SUVs, minivans, and crossovers, and Ford saw where the market was going: It introduced various versions of the truck, with the “Bronco Wagon” being advertised as the “family carry-all.” This version in particular proved to be a hit for the Detroit-based automaker, but not in that families were buying them — it was outdoor-oriented men, who wanted a closed bed on a truck while maintaining the off-road ruggedness they needed.
However, as time went on it became apparent that Ford’s Bronco demographic didn’t care very much for all of the optional add-ons like the auxiliary gas tank, snowplow, or posthole digger. These guys wanted the available winch, tow bars, brush guards, and overdrive units for off-roading instead of farming. But with Chevy’s Blazer outmatching the Bronco in both power and refinement, the little Ford offering began to slowly slump into obscurity as Americans continued to prefer SUVs like the Jeep Cherokee, as it was far roomier and way less rustic feeling than its under-powered and undersized competition.Since sales continued to wallow over the next dozen years, Ford’s budget for a re-imagined Bronco grew increasingly slim, and by 1978, when the next generation came into being (for just two short years) it was not much more than a slightly redesigned version of the F-100 pickup with a few customizable seating arrangements, a removable top, a choice of full-time four-wheel-drive, or a part-time system that utilized a gear-driven transfer case. While it was by no means a dog when it came to roughing it, the Bronco continued to be just a ho-hum option for car buyers, and its rust-prone, motor-melting rear power window did nothing to help its cause.
After another hasty redesign in 1980, the Bronco came into its third reincarnation as a smaller, boxier entity, with an inline-six engine that out-powered its V8 big brother, but remained chained to a single barrel carburetor and one seriously restrictive exhaust. Fortunately, by 1988 the fourth generation Broncos had become fuel injected, and while it was an upgrade over the previous model, owners found themselves rejoicing over the addition of a five-speed gearbox as well as the newer and lighter, electronically-controlled automatic transmission. At this point Ford thought it would be a grand idea to really start giving the four-door Chevy Suburban a run for its money, and in true Ford-fashion a Frankenstein four-door conversion of the F-series crew cab was built by now defunct Centurion Vehicles and was offered through Ford dealerships. Naturally, the product never quite caught on, and the Suburban continued to steamroll as king of the full-size four-door SUVs.The Bronco’s final hurrah came in 1992 and lasted just four years. In that time it became safer, as it incorporated crumple zones, and it did away with the removable top, even though it was still possible to yank it off with the proper Torx bit and a couple of buddies. This generation of Bronco also received quite a few interior and exterior upgrades, with rounded edges balancing out some of the boxiness, and in 1995 it became one of the first vehicles to offer turn signal lamps in its side-view mirrors. While Americans did indeed like the redesigned Bronco, it remained a bit of slug compared to its far more utilitarian cousin, the Explorer, and once O.J. hopped inside one to escape from the cops, every American’s memory of the Bronco remains eternally linked to images of a white little SUV plodding down the freeway.
OFF-ROAD LIVE!
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