Collectible Classic: 1966-1977 Ford Bronco - Automobile Magazine

Just look at the simple, highly capable, first-generation Ford Bronco. The Bronco wasn't the first vehicle of its kind, but it was the first to hint that the segment -- which in the mid-1960s was quite small -- had a lot of potential. Ford, hot off its success creating the pony car, saw the glimmer of a new niche. " The Bronco, when it debuted for 1966, was a rather rudimentary first draft of Frey's vision. Unlike the CJ or the Scout, the Bronco rode on coil springs up front rather than more common leaf springs, and it could be ordered with V-8 power (International swiftly responded with an eight-cylinder model of its own). Ford touted the Bronco not merely as an off-roader or a utility vehicle but also as a "new kind of sports car with 4-wheel drive. " It handed over the new Bronco to racer/builder Bill Stroppe, who had successfully campaigned Lincolns in the Carrera Panamericana races of the 1950s. Stroppe focused on a new race called the Mexican 1000 Rally -- later known as the Baja 1000 --... By the early 1970s, the Bronco had become a popular platform for the growing crowd of recreational off-roaders, who appreciated (and continue to. Source: www.automobilemag.com