John Mears's son found this 1974 Bronco in a field in southern Idaho. At that time, Mears paid just $500 for it. Of course that rescued rig was merely a shadow of the bulletproof truck that you see here.

Read the rest on the FTE homepage. >>

 

I don't consider this a Bronco. It is just some custom rig with a few remnants of Bronco body pieces.

 

when seein these rigs I feel the exact same way
but
I honor the guys for their deep pockets, inventiveness, & somebody's fab skills, tools, time & talent/knowledge. I all ways pray that the vehicle thusly adapted wuz really just a bent up ol rusted frame & not a nice orig 1/2 - 3/4 survivor (that could have been restored w/less mods & more true rep a the rig as factory built).

 

chrlsful, I agree. They definitely are very creative and I have a lot of respect for that. And somebody had a large budget. They just can't call it a Bronco just because of two fenders and a hacked up grill. And you are so right, I hope they didn't take one that could have been saved and did this to it, when they could have just bought some aftermarket fenders and grill and then put that onto their custom rig.

 

different strokes….
or as my framing boss in Jersey said:
Dat Y day make nilla and chockalet!

 

You still have to admit it's bad azz!!

 

This rig is sick!!

 

Sick....ck out this passenger of this one, only maybe wearing a lap belt, and no shoulder straps and of course having his hand outside the body edge.

 

I'd call them "tube buggies" (& maybe B wrong).

Rich kinda has the idea - One of each!

 

Neither of mine have the money, time or as much hard work as those two do. And mine have no where their capabilities! But both of mine have shoulder straps. Red one has a Mustang seats, a 5 point harness out of a Blackhawk helicopter! The other one NOT in the pic because I had not had time to put them in, they are in now along with better seats.!

My hillbilly bug has the capability to be fun, very fun.

 

same conversation on this site over on 'Getting my '66 ready".

Reminds me of the conversation the nation needs to have on "moneyed interests (1%) v mass voters", thank goodness this 1s a lot less weighty.

Have fun, be safe AND productive.

 

It's not like there's a clean line of demarcation between "a Bronco" and "not a Bronco". It's more of a continuum. Nobody would argue that a restored Bronco (no mods) is "a Bronco". And nobody would argue that a tube buggy, built with no Bronco parts whatsoever, is "not a Bronco."

But what about my'71 that has a James Duff lift, NV3550 trans, Atlas t.case, cut fenders and aftermarket interior? Most would agree it's "a Bronco" but some purists might disagree.

Then what if I swapped in Dana 60s and added a 4 link suspension at both ends? Probably wouldn't lose any more than I already have.

How about a fiberglass body? Might lose a few more, but most would still say it's "a Bronco."

But now with a 'glass body I maybe want to put a more complete 'cage in it, and tie the 'cage into the frame in about 8 places. Probably didn't lose many "a Bronco" supporters there.

But what if, to make the addition of the full 'cage and 4 link suspension, and to make it easier to clock the Atlas higher, I ditched the stock frame and started from scratch? It's really not much of a step from the last one, where most people would say it's "a Bronco". But now it's REALLY close to the straight-up tube buggy that everyone agreed was "not a Bronco."

So what's the conclusion from all of this? I have no idea. But personally I'm pretty OK with calling anything that looks like a Bronco "a Bronco" (albeit some are pretty highly modified!)

 

If it's heart and soul is a Bronco and or hopefully still it has one of these on it....its a Bronco. And awesome as ever, no matter what!

I have since removed mine, so I do not destroy it by smacking it against a tree or some rock, and am planning on putting it on the glove box door.

 

In Nascar,is a Fusion a Ford? Camry a Toyota? Impala a Chevrolet?
How about NHRA Funny cars? Even Pro "Stock" is in name only. I really dont care what ya call em as long as ya drive it like ya stole it.

 

Excellent point, I like all original with all factory parts just as much as the custom off road crawlers. I've looking at old Bronc's for a while, I just bought a 2007 F350 DRW Lariat for pulling stuff. Now that Im finished looking at F350's I'm going to be on the look out for an old Bronco.