Classic Broncos

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.

Most of you reading this know who Parnelli Jones is and his impact on racing and the world of classic Broncos.

Parnelli parleyed his racing success into business by partnering with Firestone, they made tires using his moniker and he purchased and ran a few dozen Firestone tire stores in California.

Parnelli also was the west coast distributor for Gabriel shocks and he owned a wheel company (U.S. Mags).

In addition, Parnelli was the co-owner of a Ford Dealership named Vel's-Parnelli Ford.

The Ford dealership acted as the home and fabrication shop for Parnelli Jones Racing. They built race cars and also modified some production Ford cars.

One such model was the Parnelli Jones Indy Special Bronco.

The 1977 Broncos were ordered as basic Wimbledon white U15 wagons with 302 V-8 engines, automatic transmissions, power steering, power brakes.

The special paint was applied to mimic the paint on the 1976-1977 Indy race cars built by Vel's Parnelli racing

The modifications included:

Roll bar and racing seat belt harnesses
Shortened and blacked out bumpers
American Racing Wheels & all terrain tires
Gabriel Shocks
Custom paint job with blue stripes with silver pin stripe to match Parnelli's 1987-1977 Indy Car
Center of hood painted black.
Grill painted black (similar to the Special Decor Package)
Bronco script emblems were stripped and painted black.
Parnelli emblems mounted under the Bronco script.
Custom dark blue carpeting
Vel's Parnelli Jones build plate on driver's door.

So is this story true or false? The answer is a little of both, this Bronco was built by Vel's Parnelli Racing, but I am not sure any others were made. I have been led to believe this was the only one. If you have any additional information, please comment below.