Bronco Babes #10

 Summer is over, but we still have Bronco Babes......

Miss Hurst Dual/Gate with James Duff and James Griffin at the Baja 500 in June of 1969

Bronco of the Day: K Bar S 1967 Roadster

 Todays Bronco of the Day is a bit of a time capsule.

This 1967 Bronco U15 Wagon was originally Wimbledon White and equipped with a 289 V-8.

The Bronco underwent a complete transformation in the mid to late 1980s. The owner must have lived in Southern California as the DSO code shows it shipped to a Los Angeles dealer, then the engine was rebuilt by Standard Crankshaft in LA and the other work was performed by K Bar S in Las Vegas......and then there is the way in which it was set up....1/2 doors and bikini top suggest the owner lived in the Southwest.

At some point the Bronco was sold and ended up in Seattle and the owner contacted Hal Sealund (one of the founders of K Bar S) to ask questions about the Bronco, one thing led to another, and Hal bought the Bronco to add to his collection in Yuma Arizona.

Hal decided to start selling off his collection in 2017 and a collector in Texas bought the Bronco.

Then that collector (who probably bought it to impress his friends) sold the Bronco in 2020 at Mecum Auto Auctions in Houston.

At the time of the Mecum sale the Bronco still looked like it did when K Bar S completed the makeover in 1989.

The list of modifications includes replacing the 289 with a mildly built 302, replacing the 3 speed toploader with a 4 speed toploader and Hurst floor shifter. Replacing the factory equipped Dana 30 front end for a Dana 44. Then there was the dual shock mounts and axle truss.

The interior is standard K Bar S fare: Smittybilt 6-point roll cage, Beard seats, Lecarra steering wheel and smoothed dash. 

The outside features 1/2 door inserts, fiberglass hood with the Duff bubble, front and rear fender flares, a Smittybilt brush-guard and finally the signature two tone K Bar S paint job including custom lettering on the fenders.

Bronco Cryptozoology #9: The Bronco Hunter

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.

Ford had sent quite a few Broncos to Stroppe, some before the Bronco was even introduced to the public. 

In 1968 Ford sent a 1969 Wimbledon White Bronco to the Holman & Moody-Stroppe team. It was around this time that Holman & Moody parted ways with Stroppe. We don't know if that divorce happened before or after this Bronco was built.

We can assume the Bronco was assembled by Stroppes team as it has many of Stroppe's parts on it, not to mention the poppy red (orange) paint.

Stroppe's team built the Bronco for off-road use and gave it the name "Bronco Hunter". The reason for this is not known, some believe it may have been a feasibility for a special "hunter's model" similar to the Sportsman Special that came along later?

It could also be that this Bronco may have been the template for the Baja Broncos that began in 1971. 

HMS added bigger tires, fender flares, dual shocks, roll bar along with some motor mods.

When found it was sporting a winch and a red paint job

This Bronco was restored to original HMS configuration.

The H&M tag that signifies it as an official Holman & Moody rig

Bronco Barn Find: 1966 Monster

Monster Trucks 1st appeared around 1980, trucks like Bigfoot and King Kong immediately drew attention from off-roaders. Most people were exposed to Bigfoot in the 1981 picture Take This Job and Shove It.

They may have also seen Bigfoot appearing at Truck and Tractor pulling events.

At any rate the off-road crowd loved it, but building one of your own required some fabrication skills as there were few off-the-shelf lift kits in the early 80's.

Some of the not so talented had to get creative when finding a way to fit huge tires under their trucks.

This is the case with this 1966 Bronco Barn Find, actually found in a field in the Midwest. It has a set of 44" Ground Hawg tires, some of the first truly large (and street legal) tires available back then.

I would surmise by the graphics that this Bronco was built in the mid-late 1980s.

Anyway, enjoy the pictures.....

Photos courtesy of Classic Broncos Forum member Twisted77