King of Kings: Bronco-Bodied Ultra4 Racer

Unfortunately, you can’t buy this particular Bronco at your local Ford dealer.

Vaughn Gittin Jr. and Loren Healy are no strangers to fast Fords. Their latest adventure sees them behind the wheel of a new Ford Bronco – or, at least, something that looks vaguely like one.

Gittin and Healy make up the The Fun-Haver Off-Road Team. True to their name, Fun-Haver markets everything from car parts to skateboard parts. They also offer streetwear that lends itself to extreme sports and extreme driving in equal measure.

King of the Hammers is an event that should be familiar to anyone who loves off-road vehicles. The Ultra4 racing class was more or less created for this event. It features purpose-built off-road vehicles that are capable of racing at over 100 MPH in the desert, but are also equipped with ultra-low crawling gears to tackle more difficult terrain.

Built for High Speed, and High Strength

The purpose-built machine seen here is a completely custom build, but it wears bodywork inspired by the new Ford Bronco. The Bronco’s basic squared-off shape lends itself well to rock racers like these, although ample artistic license has been employed to get the proportions to work just right.

Most Ultra4 racing vehicles use unique bodies that aren’t based on any production rig. The Bronco styling is part of what makes this particular off-road racer unique in its class.

Our favorite detail of this Bronco-inspired build is the iconic grille, which features the “R” in “BRONCO” painted racy red. The intent is pretty clear, and we don’t have to spell it out for you.

The Bronco 4400s both house powerful variants of the Ford Windsor engine. Healy’s truck is equipped with a 460ci Ford Windsor V8 fed by dual Aeromotive racing fuel pumps. Meanwhile, Vaughn Gittin Jr. is rocking a Ford performance 427 Windsor V8.

You’ll also find a sophisticated four-wheel drive system, a pair of prototype Recaro racing bucket seats, and more sophisticated electronics than most production supercars. Given what we’ve seen from previous King of the Hammers events, you can bet that these trucks will probably out-accelerate most supercars, too.

Images: Aeromotive/Driving Line

Cameron Vanderhorst

Cam VanDerHorst has been a contributor to Internet Brands' Auto Group sites for over three years, with his byline appearing on Ford Truck Enthusiasts, Corvette Forum, JK Forum, and Harley-Davidson Forums, among others. In that time, he's also contributed to Autoweek, The Drive, and Scale Auto Magazine.

He bought his first car at age 14 -- a 1978 Ford Mustang II -- and since then he’s amassed an impressive and diverse collection of cars, trucks, and motorcycles, including a 1996 Ford Mustang SVT Mystic Cobra (#683) and a classic air-cooled Porsche 911.

In addition to writing about cars and wrenching on them in his spare time, he enjoys playing music (drums and ukulele), building model cars, and tending to his chickens.

You can follow Cam, his cars, his bikes, and his chickens at @camvanderhorst on Instagram.

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