1978 Ford Bronco XLT

The Ford Bronco was introduced to the public in August of 1965 to compete against Jeep's CJ-5 and International Harvester's Scout in the burgeoning recreational four wheel drive vehicle market. The first Broncos were very spartan without options such as power steering and an automatic transmission. Initial models were available only with a 105hp 170ci six cylinder derived from Ford's Falcon lineup. The only available transmission was Ford's 3.03 three-speed manual with a column mounted shifter.

For consignment, a big version of the Bronco U-150 4x4 wagon. It comes to us with 68,478 title verified actual miles and is equipped with the Ranger XLT package, has a newer respray in Jade Green, and a matching fiberglass top. The stock height suspension is new, and some all terrain Goodrich knobbies are wrapping Mickey Thompson Classic 3 wheels. This high roller truck gives you the ability to literally go anywhere and will do so with ease. Grab your gear and groover, and get off the main road into the wilds, in classic style.

Exterior
All laser straight steel is neatly put together and minding its gapping and is all bathed in a respray of Dark Jade Metallic. A nice front shiny grille with bumper below and good looking contrasting trimmings surround the wheel wells and exterior glass. All bumpers and chrome trim is recently re-plated. Badging is all correct and new, and a walk around will have you hyped up on the height and give you visions of wild out of the way places you can get away to. All the rear top and glass within are just perfectly preserved including the rarely seen factory sliding glass windows. Mickey Thompson shiny 15-inch wheels are on all 4 corners, and 32x12.5R15 BF Goodrich tires wrap them nicely.

Interior
Climbing inside I'm green with envy greeted with door panels bathed in more green and a highlighting panel of faux brown textured leather pattern vinyl in their centers. The seats are tuck and roll broadcloth inserts in various shades of striped green with shiny green bolsters. All seats and door panels are newly installed. Between the front buckets is a green plastic console. Up front, the dash has a nice factory dash pad and is nicely painted green with just a touch of burl wood appliqué to house the molded plastic square inserts for the instruments. The dash has a retro digital AM/FM radio replacing the factory one. On the passenger's side is more burl appliqué for the glove box door and surrounding trimming within some more green molded vinyl. New deep green carpeting is installed, and the headliner above the front passengers is a punched green vinyl and is nice and tight. Lest I forget a rear bench seat is sitting in the middle of the bed, and looking slightly used, no cracks or errors. This bench looks up to a fiberglass white headliner all uncovered and clean.

Drivetrain
Under the hood is the original 351ci M-series V8 with a newly rebuilt Edelbrock 4-barrel carburetor and intake atop. There is a C6 3-speed automatic transmission which pushes power rearward to a Ford 9-inch rear axle with a 3.50 Equilock gear ratio. The front axle is a Dana 44 3.50 version. All very clean and buttoned up under this hood. There is a new aluminum radiator now installed to keep things real cool.

Undercarriage
Underneath we note some surface rusting that has begun to peel the black undercoat paint coming off several surfaces. Looking closely at the bodywork from underneath shows some small areas of invasive rust mostly on the floor pans. The frame is sound and all the mechanicals are working just fine. Noted is the radius arm and coil springs front suspension and leaf springs for the rear. Power disc brakes are on front and power drums for the rear. These are all new and just have recently been put on.

Drive-Ability
This truck started right up, and I began my climb, (sic), to the test track. Here all worked as it should, good acceleration, and decent handling. Brakes were good and should be as they are fairly new according to the consignor. All electronics were working just fine, and the ride height gave me an awesome view.

I have personally experienced driving one of these in the hinterlands of BLM in Utah, and we could not destroy it. One can assume this truck has the same toughness, as it is of the same vintage. We were crawling around red rock territory, climbing things that put fear into my heart, especially when you are looking towards the sky but still moving forward! This truck is a nice example, may need some TLC on the floor pan areas but all is looking good and working just swimmingly, or should I say climb-ingly?! Drum roll please!

U15HLCE8210

U15-Bronco 4x4 Wagon
H-351ci 2bbl V8
L-Michigan Truck Assy Plant
CD8210-Sequential Unit Number

Classic Auto Mall is a 336,000-square foot classic and special interest automobile showroom, featuring over 850 vehicles for sale with showroom space for up to 1,000 vehicles. Also, a 400 vehicle barn find collection is on display. This vehicle is located in our showroom in Morgantown, Pennsylvania, conveniently located just 1-hour west of Philadelphia on the I-76 Pennsylvania Turnpike. The website is www.classicautomall.com and our phone number is (888) 227-0914. Please contact us anytime for more information or to come see the vehicle in person.