Bronco of the Day: Mecum 68 Roadster

Today's Bronco of the Day is a 1968 Pre-Runner Bronco Roadster.

I found this Bronco for sale on Mecum's website, as usual the details are incomplete, so I don't know if this was an original U13 roadster or another model modified into a roadtser.

The body appears to be a fiberglass replacement with pre-runner style fenders and a Buckaroo hood. The original 68 windshield is retained.

The grill uses the early, small blinker lights and '66 taillights are installed out back. The paint color is House of Kolor Cosmos Red

The pre-runner style bumpers are custom made as is the roll cage and spare tire mount

The front end is a Dana 44, but not original to the Bronco, it is a high pinion. It features coil overs and a 3-link suspension with Fox shocks.

The rear suspension is similar with a 9" suspended by a 4-link system.

Tires are 37 x 12.5 BFG Mud Terrains

It appears that a late 70's F-150 or Bronco was stripped of its motor and parts to build this Bronco.

The steering box is the full-size Bronco/F-150 4x4x2 box (more evidence of a late 70's Ford being used for this build)

The engine is listed as a 408ci, which it appears is a 351 Cleveland/Modified based block. This could be a 400 ci motor from the same family that has been bored out and reworked (common in '78-'79 Broncos and F-150s). Attached to the motor is a C-6 trans and NP205 transfer case with JP twin stick shifters.

The interior features custom bucket seats, autometer gauges, Lokar transmission shifter and a full roll cage

Working Broncos part 1

When the Bronco was first conceived Ford execs and designers saw it as a do-it-all utility vehicle.

The market for the Bronco should not be limited to hunters, campers, surfers or football moms (soccer hadn't caught on yet). They saw the Bronco as a work horse that could do light duty chores where a full-size pickup might be too large.

They even offered factory options like a snowplow and a power take-off winch

Ford would even show ads showing Broncos set up as recovery vehicles

Or plowing snow

Or on the job

There was even talk (although I have seen no evidence) that Ford offered a "Police Package" much like they did on the full-size sedans. This particular Bronco was purchased by the City of New York and used by the Central Park Police

Greenlight made a diecast replica of it

This one is a 1972 1/2 Cab that was used for firefighting duties as well as plowing roads in the winter. The rig is now owned by Jeff's Bronco Graveyard.

Many Broncos were equipped with snow plows, this one appears to have had a rear-end-ectomy

Bronco Stories: Doug Nash's Bronco Buster

 

This Bronco story is about another Bronco that wasn't really a Bronco, but here at the blog, we talk about all things classic Bronco and this one did help increase awareness of our favorite Ford.

This is a bit of a short story for a couple reasons, one there isn't much to say about the Bronco Buster and two, it wasn't around for very long.

Doug Nash was a Detroit native who grew up during the 1950's in the Motor City and was bitten by the drag racing bug.

He campaigned a 1965 Comet Altered/Factory Experimental (A/FX) car before building our subject vehicle. For the uninitiated the Altered/Factory Experimental cars were the predecessors of the Funny Car. They altered the wheelbase to get more traction and the more they stretched them, the funnier they looked, thus the nick name "funny car".

In early 1966 Nash decided to build a funny car using a 1966 Bronco 1/2 Cab for the basis for the body. The nose was, per the unwritten rule of funny cars, elongated.

Here is the young Mr. Nash in 1966 working out some geometry on the Bronco Buster

One of Nash' biggest sponsors was Crane Cams

Of course, the body was made from fiberglass and the chassis from aluminum, so it really wasn't a Bronco. The combination did net him a weight of 1700lbs (including Nash in the seat) and several 8 second runs.

The Bronco Buster featured a Ford 289 ci small block, that was first injected and then equipped with a blower.

Nash campaigned the Bronco throughout 1966 and part of 1967 before a new NHRA rule that banned both funny car pick-ups and aluminum frames sidelined the Bronco.

At any rate, the rule change ended the Bronco Buster and Doug turned his attention to engineering transmissions. His transmissions were a huge success in drag racing and hot rodding.

 

Despite the fact the that the Bronco Buster spent less than 2 years on the track, there are a lot of pictures of it in action. Thankfully, due to it being an oddity people did take pictures of it.

Rumor has it the Bronco Buster was cut up and scrapped. The motor was used in other cars. Doug sold his transmission business and retired to the Cayman Islands before moving to Key West. Doug passed away in 2015 at the age of 73.

Thanks to model makers and builders, the Bronco Buster lives on. 

I also found these reproduction shirts on ebay

Sources

Flashback Friday: Doug Nash's "Bronco Buster" - Dragzine

Doug Nash, Creator of Racing Transmissions and Drag Racer Has Died (motortrend.com)

Bronco of the Day: 1967 Cummis Diesel

Todays Bronco of the day is a screaming yellow 1967 wagon, that has been extensively modified.

For starters the motor is a Cummins 4BT Turbo diesel

The Bronco made an appearance at SEMA one year