Bronco Cryptozoology #28: The Dune Duster 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.

There are a lot of questions about this Bronco, like did the Bronco really exist? Who built it? Was Ford involved? Where is it now? What is its real name?

Let's dig in

The Dune Duster was originally called the "Sportsman", then it may have been called the "Dune Buster", but it was definitely called the Dune Duster in the press release date November 18th, 1965

Here it is at the 1965 Detroit Auto Show:

The Bronco was built by Barris Customs of North Hollywood, California at the request of Ford. Ford was involved from start to finish. The picture and caption below tell the story, they called it the "Dune Buster", which is either a typo or the name changed.

The Bronco toured the country, appearing in auto shows from 1965 to 1970. In 1970 it was given a face lift and a new name: "Wildflower".

Wildflower toured the auto shows until at least 1971.

Where it is today is a mystery, but it was a real Bronco, built on behalf of Ford.

George Barris was asked about the whereabouts of the Bronco when interviewed by Todd Z., Barris could not recall hearing what happened to it after it toured the car show circuits.

Do any of you know where this Bronco is? Post in the comment section below.