How I’d Make A New, Larger Bronco That’s A Tribute To The Most Famous One In History

The minds of GenXers will go to rather unexpected places when presented with certain scenarios.

Show a person of that demographic a video of a something smashing through a wall and they’ll subconsciously scream “Oh Yeah!” as a smiling pitcher full of sugary redness bursts from their memory (and through a wall, usually). Ask any GenX’er to “turn around” and their gray matter will play “every now and then I get a little lonely…” in Bonnie Tyler’s signature rasp. That’s what I do, but for me it’s usually sung out loud.

And if you ask an X’er to picture a “Ford Bronco,” I’m confident most won’t envision the current Ford sport utility or its first-generation inspiration. No, they’ll conjur the larger F-series pickup-based models from their youth, most memorably last witnessed in one of the most widely seen media events of the previous century. I’ve always liked those Broncos, and I bet a lot of people out there would want to see this “Grand Bronco” make a comeback. How could we do it?

Horse Of A Different Character

Ford’s remake of the original 1966 Bronco turned out to be a masterstroke. Offered in a brutish hard-core off-roader format as well as a more suburbanite-friendly Bronco Sport version with the same vibe, Ford’s off-road pony capitalizes on the popularity of the Jeep Wrangler’s image but gives buyers an arguably more palatable on-road experience and greater practicality.

Ironically, the initial 1966-77 bodystyle that this super-popular new Bronco is based on was never a big seller. With around 15,000 to 20,000 produced for each of the years it was offered, this early Bronco was very much a Fiero-level niche product, similar in specification to the International Harvester Scout as a barely-more-civilized Jeep CJ.

What’s incredible is that in an age of planned obsolescence, America’s second-largest car maker did very little to this first-generation Bronco for its entire eleven-year model run. You can see that this last-year 1977 model looks virtually unchanged from the 1966. That’s got to be some kind of record for a postwar American non-commercial vehicle.

The Bronco may not have been changing, but the market was. During the seventies, buyers were migrating to larger and more substantial four-wheel-drive vehicles, primarily shortened pickup-truck-based things like the Chevy Blazer, Dodge Ramcharger, and SJ Jeep Cherokee.

Even bit player International Harvester developed the upgraded, extended wheelbase Scout II Traveler.

It was time for Ford to hop on the bandwagon, and what was internally known as “Project Shorthorn” was born. This second-generation Bronco of 1978 followed the same formula as the other Big Three by using a shortened current F-Series truck as a basis with a removable fiberglass cap over what remained of the pickup bed (but with a steel roof remaining over the front passengers).

Ford probably wondered why they hadn’t done this sooner, since sales exploded to roughly three times the first generation’s numbers at 74,000 units. The next year’s sales topped 100,000 Broncos, or around four to five times the typical annual sales of the previous generation.

Ah, but it’s the next generation of Bronco that most people over forty today will remember best, and there’s a reason for that.

The Superstar Of Rent-A-Car’s Car

Boomers talk about where they were when they saw live footage of the Kennedys being shot or the moon landing. For GenXers, our touchstone was something far stranger.

On June 17, 1994, I drove back home for the weekend and as I pulled up to the house that evening, my brother ran out yelling for me to “drop everything and get inside.” Had Mom fallen down the stairs? Was the dishwasher flooding the kitchen? No, this was something far – well, not better or worse, but more. From a pop culture standpoint, it was monumental.

On our twenty-seven-inch Trinitron screen, the former Buffalo Bills running back, Hertz spokesman, Capricorn One and Naked Gun actor known as O.J. Simpson was being chased by what appeared to be essentially every police Caprice in their entire fleet. I’d heard on the radio earlier that he was supposed to be “helping police with inquiries,” as the British say, and had failed to appear. But the rather unorthodox and otherworldly “low speed procession” on the 405 in L.A. was something that none of us could have imagined.

The biggest shock to me? He was in a fifth-generation Ford Bronco, which actually belonged to and was being driven by his friend Al Cowlings, but O.J. supposedly owned an identical vehicle as well. Why did he choose to buy something like that? More importantly, how did I not know that Ford was still selling the Bronco in the nineties?

They wouldn’t be making it for much longer; despite the brief uptick in sales after appearing on 95 million people’s televisions, the fifth-gen Bronco would be discontinued in 1996.

Also, despite the “fifth generation” name, this particular Ford sport utility was just a revised version of the fourth-generation model, which in turn was a modified third-generation design that had debuted in 1980; from the nose back, it was pretty much the same thing.

The Ranger-based Bronco II and later Explorer had taken over much of the big Bronco’s turf, and by the mid-nineties, the trend towards four-door sport utilities was in full swing. There was no room in the lineup for a large family SUV with only a pair of side doors. Thirty years on, though, could it be time for a revival?

Bronco II 2 Electric Boogaloo

With the explosive success of the compact, unibody Ford Maverick truck and the F-Series continuing to be a decades-long sales juggernaut, we tend to overlook the mid-sized Ranger. Production figures might not be at the stratospheric level of its siblings, but it’s hardly a failure. Honestly, the Ranger is probably all of the truck that most people need, but they choose a humongous F-150 instead. The Ranger’s a not-too-large and not-too-small pickup that’s the sensible choice for sensible people like the fictitious Hank Hill.  As Jason pointed out earlier, the Ranger was perfect vehicular casting for a no-nonsense, practical man who would never, ever mix his petrochemicals.

You’ll need to recalibrate your image of “Ranger” if you’re unfamiliar with the new model. The current F-series has been upsized over time to the gargantuan monster it is now, so the smaller current Ranger is now within inches in each dimension of the 1994 F-150 that begat the O.J. Simpson Bronco. Look how small the F-150, which is the model of Torch’s “Marshall” truck, looks next to today’s pickups:

We’ll use the current Ranger as the basis for our new Bronco II. Hey, it’s based on the Ranger, so why not name it after the Ranger-based small Bronco from the eighties? Of course, THAT Bronco II was smaller than the concurrent “primary” Bronco, while this will be the opposite. Our Bronco II will be a larger tribute to the old singular-named O.J. chase “Bronco.” Confused? Great! Let’s get started!

As with Broncos in days of yore, the wheelbase and length of the pickup truck will get reduced, a rear seat added in, and a fiberglass cap installed over the bed area. Unlike the last generations of 1978 to 1996 Broncos, I’d like to pop for tooling to make longer doors. The use of the standard pickup truck side openings on these old “large” Broncos always made getting in and out of the rear seat a real pain, so that’s one nostalgic detail I wouldn’t want to revisit. Who knows? Maybe those longer doors could find use on a special two-door Ranger in the future as well (and help amortize the tooling costs).

I like the idea of a two-tone and throwback contrasting rocker panel paint and roof color to help break up the sides visually and, as on the original “large” Bronco, help to make it look lower and longer. Here’s a version with a matching white roof in case you want to make more of an O.J. Chase Car Replica:

We’ll also have a power rear window that lowers into the tailgate; again, another possible option to be available for the Ranger pickup. If owners want to add a rear cargo cap, they wouldn’t need to have a lift-up glass rear window then, right?

Allowing for that rear roof section to be removable is quite tempting. That feature was a particularly cool trick on the 1984 to 88 Toyota 4Runner.

At the last auto show I attended, I noticed that Toyota was displaying a concept of something just like that, with the roof dangling above the truck from wires on the convention hall ceiling.

Removing that 4Runner roof was not a task you could take lightly. There are 14 bolts to remove, disconnect electricals and the washer hose, and then you realistically need a garage hoist to lift it up. You rarely saw Broncos with that rear roof cap removed, but I know that it could be done with similar if not more effort. In both cases, you had better hope it doesn’t rain before you return home.

Do I really want to make owners of this Bronco II have to lift off the roof? We could make that possible, but I think we’re better off providing an interim solution.

The Air Space roof option could include removable rear side glass and provisions to safely carry it in the Bronco II. Next, a sunroof mechanism similar to a cargo cover could slide open backward to open up over the rear passengers. Combined with a power sunroof over the front seats (it would retract outside of the roof itself and sit on top) and rolling down that rear tailgate window, you’d get a pretty good approximation of the convertible feeling that could seal back up tight in just a few minutes.

I don’t doubt that aftermarket soft tops would be available as well to cover that area in back with the roof fully removed:

It does look like a lot of fun. Ford’s on a roll now with trucks, and if they don’t make this it would be a crime. Sorry.

If The Bronco Doesn’t Fit, You Must Make The Bronco II A Hit

Am I kidding myself to think that there’s a market for this larger Bronco II? Probably, but maybe there’s an opportunity to fill a niche that possibly still exists today. What niche might that be? Well, back in the seventies, the Jeep CJs available were too cramped and unsuitable for many, while Chevy Suburbans and Jeep Wagoneers were too mom-and-the-kids to provide a decent alternative. Subaru 4WD wagons and BRATs were just appearing, yet they were a bit too small for many overlanding excursions.

Think about it: today, there are many more options than in the disco era, but Wrangers are still compromised daily driver choices, and the plethora of four-door crossovers and SUVs out there are, in many cases, still too big, too small, not particularly capable, or just plain suburbanite-dull. And have fun Sawzalling the roof.

The shortened-pickup adventure machines from the Big Three that could open to the sky created practical but exciting choices for a lot of bell-bottom-wearing people; it’s no wonder that they sold well in that period. Maybe this Bronco II could find some buyers wanting a unique way to get away from it all today –  hopefully not followed by all of L.A.’s finest.