Bronco Cryptozoology #5: The 2WD Bronco Buggy

 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.

Today we look at the 2 Wheel Drive factory Bronco Dune Buggy Prototype.

Rewind back to 1968, the Vietnam War was raging, NASA was circling the moon and Bunkie Knudson was President of Ford.

Knudsen liked special projects, some of you may remember he was the one behind the Boss Mustangs. Bunkie also had a special project in mind for the Bronco. He wanted to see if it would be feasible to offer a 2WD Bronco "kit" similar to the Meyer's Manx Dune Buggy that used the Volkswagen Beatle pan and running gear.

The Manx Dune Buggy:

The kit would have a fiberglass body with bucket seats and a frame mounted roll bar. The engine was set back to take weight off the front and the front drive axle was replaced by a narrowed set of twin I-Beams from a 2WD F-Series Truck.

Below is the concept drawing

A two-wheel drive Bronco is not as crazy as it sounds, the Bronco's biggest competitor, the International Scout, had been offered in two-wheel drive and I'll bet the Ford designers had discussions about a 2WD model early on.

The prototype was built by Kar Kraft in Detroit, these are the guys responsible for the assembly of the Boss Mustangs.

If you know your Broncos, you will notice how far back this motor sits.

In 1969 Knudsen was fired and all of his projects, including this one was 86'ed.

Bill Stroppe ended up with the chassis, not sure what to do with it, it sat in his shop awaiting inspiration.

At the urging of Parnelli Jones, they built it into a race Bronco known as "Pony". If you look closely, you can see the lack of a front differential.

The team simply added fiberglass body panels, a full roll cage and went racing.

This is a true story, not only is it true, but the concept was the inspiration for the Big Oly Bronco, which also uses Twin I-beam front suspension.

Until recently the location of Pony was unknown. It is believed to be this Bronco which now wears a fiberglass body based on a 1980 Bronco and renamed "Pickle Power"