Tuesday, July 1, 2025

Bronco Cryptozoology #41: The King Ranch 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.

The King Ranch is located in SE Texas and has been in operation for 160 years. At 825,000 acres, it is the largest ranch in the United States.

Many of you have no doubt seen the special King Ranch edition F-series trucks and Expeditions, which Ford has been offering since 2000.



This was not however the first time the two organizations teamed up.

In 1975 the King Ranch was opening a visitor center and would be, for the first time, allowing members of the public to take tours and purchase products made at the ranch. To help promote the King Ranch brand the owners asked Ford if they could build a special custom King Ranch model Bronco.

Ford agreed and after a few design meetings the parameters were set. Raven Black and Vineyard Gold were the chosen colors.

They started with a 1976 model year, standard U-15 Wagon with hard top, power steering, power disc brakes and 3-speed manual transmission.

High back bucket seats from the E-series Van were covered in embossed leather that came straight from the King Ranch. James Duff provided the custom suspension, roll cage, bumpers and fender flares, and the work was done at the legendary Horn-Williams Ford in Dallas.


When finished the costs added to the Bronco made its sale price outside of what most Americans were willing to spend (about double the cost of a standard Sport Bronco). With gas prices still high and inflation on the rise, there just wasn't enough demand for the rig. So the project was shelved and the only remaining example stayed at the King Ranch for 11 years before being sold to a Houston area Bronco enthusiast who made some changes to the suspension and bumpers.

The Bronco went up for sale a few years ago and that is when most people learned of its existence. 









This is a made-up story, this Bronco was special built by its owner to match the Ford F-series King Ranch models



Thursday, June 26, 2025

Bronco Barn Finds White '69 Wagon

 I know what you are thinking, this Bronco isn't white......however the paint code, tunnel cover, inner door panel and tailgate show the original color to be Wimbledon White.

This 1969 Wagon is missing some parts and will probably need a new body, but if the frame is good and the title is clear, there is ALWAYS hope.