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.

In 1966 Ford was approached by Disneyland about buying specially built Broncos to work as tram engines for their California Theme Park. This was in conjunction with Ford sponsoring the "World of Tomorrow" showcase at the park.

Disney wished to replace their original trams which used ugly and noisy airport tugs

Disneyland wanted an all-weather vehicle that could tow up to four passenger wagons holding as many as 24 people.

Ford hired a design team to draw up the plans, then Budd & Co, (the Detroit area fabrication shop which built the original Bronco body tubs), was employed to modify the Broncos and build the tram cars. This was easy for Budd & Co as their primary business was building full size train cars.

The Broncos were standard U15 Wagons but without the wagon roof. The Broncos were equipped with the 289 V-8 along with 4.11 gears.

They then installed the custom pillars & roof along with a frame mounted hitch.

The Broncos and tram cars were painted Ford colors of Harbor Blue, Wimbledon White and Rangoon Red for the trim.

Ten of these were built for the Disneyland but were never put into service.

Disney ended up giving the contract to their previous builder, who continued to use airport tugs, but upgraded the passenger cars

Instead, they were sold to other customers. The City of Boston, Six Flags theme park in Dallas and Yosemite National Park received two each of the trams.

The pictures below were taken in 1967 at Boston Common, the nation's oldest city park.

This story about Disneyland and the city/national parks is a fabrication. The pictures of the Bronco are real and are from a movie called Charly, shot in Boston in 1967/68.

I don't know if these Bronco trams were built for the park or just for the movie. Anyone have any information on these?