Bronco Cryptozoology #11: 1976 Colorado Gold Rush 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.

The Colorado Gold Rush Bronco is a bit of a mystery. For starters it was built in 1976, which was the bicentennial celebration of the United States, it was also the centennial celebration of Colorado becoming a state. The confusing part is the gold rush. The Colorado Gold Rush was a real thing, but it started in 1859 and ended before 1876. Perhaps the gold rush is what led Colorado to become a state? Similar to what the 1849 Gold Rush did for California?

At any rate the regional model was produced at the behest of Courtesy Ford in Englewood.

It is unknown how many were built or what options were installed other than the special paint and decals.

 

This example was restored by the folks at Classic Ford Broncos

Note the Courtesy Ford emblem on the tailgate

Another example of the sticker

A 1:18 scale miniature was made of this model

If you hadn't guessed, this was a real regional model. If you have any information to add, please do so in the comment section.