Bronco Cryptozoology #1: Ford Denver Bronco

Cryptozoology is the study of mythical creatures that may or may not exist.

This applies to Broncos how? Well, there is a lot of mystery and myths surrounding certain Bronco models and specialty-built Broncos.

So, this new segment at the blog will focus on these prototypes, one of a kind, special editions and the most historical Broncos ever built.

To keep the posts short, we will include only a brief story of each

We will try to separate fact from fiction and possibly come up with more questions than answers. 

At first, I was going to compile this into one post, but it got waaay too long. 

There are a bunch of Classic Broncos running around with Baja Bronco colors but are not Baja Broncos....are they posers or is there something else behind the story?

These were a regional model, mostly modified by the local dealers. 

Here is the story. In late 1974 Bill Stroppe was closing his operation. Sales of the Baja Bronco had slipped as had sales of all Broncos. 

Now the story goes that Ford had a bunch of Broncos painted and ready to ship to Stroppe when they got the news of his shop closing.

A Ford employee along with a Denver area Ford dealer (Golden Motors) arranged to have the Broncos shipped to the Rocky Mountain state under a special DSO to be prepped and sold as special "Denver Ford Broncos".

You see the Baja Broncos had the same colors as the Denver NFL team, which just happened to be named the "Broncos". This also meant they didn't need to order special decals or spare tire covers, they simply used NFL licensed products already available.

Some of the Broncos were dealer equipped with Stroppe items, which made for some confusion on the part of second and third owners.

Many of the Denver Broncos were delivered with the rear fenders intact.

This is indeed a real Bronco model. The actual numbers of these is debated. According to some sources there were only 77 "official" Denver Broncos built, The Denver Bronco Registry says the number is between 50 and 75

The Marti Report contradicts this and shows there were 214, which must be a mistake as that is nearly 1/2 the total production run of the Baja Broncos which were built from '71-'75. I am more inclined to believe the 50-75 number.

There were some additional Ranger models ordered with white paint and orange trim, then painted by the dealers, but these are not considered to be the "original" Denver Bronco.

See more on this story within my Baja Bronco story here

Visit the Denver Broncos Registry page here