It’s been said that after a momentous birth, the infant Ford Bronco soon became a neglected child. When it debuted for 1966, it was a very timely upgrade in a sport/utility revolution that was gaining steam year by year. Looking at how it evolved from that point, a reasonable person might wonder why it almost immediately lost momentum versus the rest of the market.
The sport/ute “revolution” was real, but for a company the size of FoMoCo, dealing with a lot of mid-’60s success in other car realms (can you say Mustang?), it was chump change at that moment in time. Sales of 20,000-something to 30,000-something Broncos annually were a drop in the bucket compared to other models, and only 2-3 percent of truck sales overall. Bronco numbers didn’t generate a high-profit margin either, and bean counters were reluctant to release R&D and model upgrade money as quickly as they might for a faster-selling model. On top of that, there was the “executive attention-span factor,” whereby money went to things the execs in power favored at the moment. Additionally, internal struggles over development and advertising money can always help to speed or slow a particular model’s development.
Finally, at a certain point in 1972, spurred by the success of the GM Blazer, development started on a new full-size Bronco model. At times like that, the old model always goes into minimal development mode as it nears the end of its run. A hitch came when the full-size Bronco was delayed several years by the Arab oil embargo and an economic downturn, so the old Bronco had to soldier on longer than intended and it got some much-needed updates to keep it in the game.
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Denne historien er fra June 2020-utgaven av Four Wheeler.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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2022 Summer Safari
NEK Overland led the way into parts of Vermont and a bit of New Hampshire most will never see
This fourdoor Ford foreshadowed late-model Broncos
Ddecades ahead of the '20 four-door Bronco, and even preceding the Ford Explorer and Excursion, came an SUV that could have passed for OEM and was built to answer the call for a three-row people-haulin' off-roader.
JEEP OR BLAZER BUILDING
I was hoping to pick your brain as to a couple of different builds. I have a '19 Jeep Wrangler JL and a '74 Chevy Blazer. I'm a little baffled as to what to focus on. The '74 full convertible Blazer is my dream vehicle. She's been a long build and now I am thinking of focusing my energy on my wife's '19 Jeep JL. I recently joined a Jeep club and have been going off-road with a few guys. I'm shopping around for lift kits. Would you suggest that my time be spent and focused on the Blazer or enjoy the Jeep? I really can't do both.
JEEP BEACH 2022
10 days, 25,000-plus Jeeps, 225,000-plus spectators
TAULER JACK
A new alternative to the old off-road jack
OVERLAND ADVENTURE 2022:
MEET THE PARTICIPANTS 12 outstanding, Mojave-ready over landers
JEEP GRAND CAMPER
This custom 1994 Grand Cherokee and homebuilt trailer were made to go camping
ROCK JUNCTION 2022
4 days, 23 trails, 1 awesome event
DECKED OUT SILVERADO
Is this the ultimate overland accessory for pickups?
SANDTASTIC!
Dangle the opportunity to put the hammer down on more than a dozen square miles of the largest coastal dune complex in the world, add in partying with family and friends at sand camps, spice it up a bit with a variety of motorsport competition and nightly concerts, and it's easy to see why the five-day