Ford Bronco (1966–96, 2021–)

Ford developed the Bronco from 1963 under Donald Frey as an off-road vehicle with its own frame and body rather than a converted truck, and sold it from August 1965 in wagon, half-cab and roadster forms with a coil-sprung front axle and the 170 six or 289 V8. It sold 225,586 in twelve years against the Jeep CJ-5 and International Scout, and Bill Stroppe’s Baja Broncos won the Baja 1000 in 1969 and 1971.

The 1978 Bronco moved onto the F-100 chassis with a removable rear roof and outsold the Chevrolet Blazer; the 1980 model brought Twin-Traction Beam independent front suspension, the 1987 fuel injection and push-button four-wheel drive, the 1992 a new front and airbags. Ford ended the Bronco in June 1996 for the four-door Expedition and revived it in 2021 on the T6 Ranger architecture with two- and four-door bodies, the Sasquatch package, the Badlands, Wildtrak, Raptor and Heritage trims. Every American Bronco has been built at Wayne, Michigan.

3 chapters, 1948 → today

1First generation (1966–1977)1966 – 1977 2Full-size Bronco (1978–1996)1978 – 1996 3Sixth generation (2021–today)2021 – today

194819601975199020052025

11966 – 1977

First generation (1966–1977)

4 VEHICLES IN THIS CHAPTER

The 92-inch Bronco with its radius-arm coil front suspension, the 170 and 200 sixes and 289 and 302 V8s, in wagon, half-cab and (to 1968) roadster bodies; Sport trim from 1967, Ranger from 1972, the Baja Bronco of 1971–75. 225,586 built.

Registry records · chapter 1

Bronco (1966–77)1966–77

Bronco Sport (1967–72)1967–72

Bronco Ranger (1972–77)1972–77

Baja Bronco (Stroppe)1971–75

21978 – 1996

Full-size Bronco (1978–1996)

9 VEHICLES IN THIS CHAPTER

Four generations on the F-Series: 1978–79 (181,955 built), 1980–86 (322,429; Twin-Traction Beam; Eddie Bauer from 1985; Australian assembly 1981–87), 1987–91 (235,251; fuel injection; the Silver Anniversary and Nite of 1991) and 1992–96 (162,703; XLT Sport; the last on 12 June 1996).

Registry records · chapter 2

Bronco (1978–79)1978–79

Bronco (1980–86)1980–86

Bronco (1987–91)1987–91

Bronco (1992–96)1992–96

Bronco Eddie Bauer (1985–96)1985–96

Bronco Silver Anniversary (1991)1991

Bronco XLT Sport (1993–96)1993–96

Centurion Classic (four-door Bronco)1987–96

Bronco (Australia, Broadmeadows)1981–87

32021 – today

Sixth generation (2021–today)

6 VEHICLES IN THIS CHAPTER

The Bronco’s return on 13 July 2020 and in production from June 2021: two- and four-door bodies on the T6 architecture, removable doors and roof, the 2.3 and 2.7 EcoBoost engines and the seven-speed manual, Badlands, Wildtrak and Raptor, and the First Edition, Heritage and Stroppe editions; also built at Nanchang for China.

Registry records · chapter 3