Bronco Cryptozoology #21: The Mercury 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.

From 1959 thru 1968 Ford of Canada marketed trucks under the Mercury banner.

Ford branded the M-100, E-100 and Broncos as Mercurys

The number of Broncos that received the Mercury branding between 1966 & 1968 is quite low, less than 100 in fact.

The grill said Ford, just as all Broncos did, but the tail gates were stamped with the name Mercury with a raised border. One of the few examples is shown below. 

The tailgate did not originally come on this Bronco, this is a 74 Bronco that is being restored into a Baja Bronco tribute. The owner found the tailgate at a car parts swap meet and decided he wanted to include it on his rig.

Is this real, did Ford actually market the Bronco with the Mercury name?

Yes and no, the Broncos were sold thru Mercury dealers, but as far as a Mercury stamped Bronco tailgate, I don't believe that ever happened. I believe this was a custom tailgate, created by the owner.