Your basic Bronco, albeit with the custom equipment package that included the chrome hubcaps and bumpers, cigarette lighter, armrests, chrome horn ring, padded visors and a one piece front floor mat. These hubcaps were a ’66- only feature, as was the stripe on the rocker panel.
PURE AND SIMPLE:
1966 Ford BroncoHAVE YOU EVER WISHED you could go back in time and look at a classic 4x4 in brandnew condition? You can’t really call yourself an Old Iron fanatic unless you have. Well, here’s a chance to come pretty close to getting that wish fulfilled... assuming you like the classic Bronco.
I ran across a series of photos of a ’66 model year Bronco that were taken in September of 1965, and no, not by Ford. The date of the photos is only a couple of weeks after the Bronco was announced!
These photos give us a rare and detailed look at a classic vehicle, practically at birth. This little pony evidently had some people at Jeep worried that it might cut into sales
Kaiser Jeep purchased this ’66 Bronco to make a study of its features and run it through a bunch of engineering tests to see what made it tick. No doubt they compared it to their own models, probably taking note of things they’d like to emulate. This is nothing new really... manufacturers still do it regularly. Most likely the concern in this case related to the upcoming release of a new Jeep model, the Jeepster Commando (model C-101), which fit into the same category as the Bronco. The Sport Utility era was beginning and people wanted more than bare bones 4x4s.
“The V8 was one of the last major technical developments in the Bronco for a number of years.”
The early Broncos were elegant in their simplicity. In September of ’65, the release of the 289 V8 was some months away. All you could get was the 7-main bearing, 170ci six, inherited from the Falcon car line. Cranking out 105 gross hp, it wasn’t exactly a powerhouse, but it was durable and thrifty. It differed from the car version by having a special Motorcraft 1100A 1-barrel carburetor built to operate better on angles. It’s relatively high compression ratio required premium fuel.
The standard trans was a Ford model 303 3-speed “Three-on-the-Tree” column shift manual with a fairly deep first gear. It was a proven, if uninspiring, gearbox. The transfer case was a special Dana 20 built only for Ford. It had a 2.46:1 low range, instead of the 2.03 found in other D20s. The Dana 30 front axle was a benchmark, being Dana’s first open knuckle axle. In back was the legendary Ford 9-inch with 28-spline shafts. Two versions of this axle were offered, one with a 2,780 pound gross axle weight (GAW), and the other with a 3,300 GAW rating. The difference was found in the housing and the wheel bearings. Standard ring and pinion ratio for the six was 4.11, but you could order 4.57s. With the V8, 3.50:1 was standard and 4.11s optional. Most interesting is that you could get limited slips in both ends, the Ford Traction Lock at the rear and the Dana Powr-Lok up front.
The Wagon offered plenty of covered storage space, but the tailgate mounted spare tire kinda got in the way. This undesirable feature went away with the swing away outside tire carrier that appeared in ’68. One neat feature was that the license plate swung down to be visible from the rear when the tailgate was down.
It used a three-link setup with two longitudinal radius arms and a transverse track rod. Standard leaf springs, nice, supple long ones, were found in back, and the combination offered good ride and articulation for the day. It did have some twitchy manners on rough roads, so after a bit of R&D by the public, Ford made a number of changes to the front end design, but it took the aftermarket to fully cure it.
Nothing fancy. The bucket seats are reminiscent of the Mustang, which is kinda apropos since the Bronco was thought to be the Mustang of the 4x4 world. Note the three-on-the-tree and the tcase shifter that looks like a four-speed handle. For ’67, a t-shaped chrome handle replaced the black transfer case shifter. A bench seat was optional. Note the windshield release devices at each side. Broncos to ’69 had fold-down windshields but this feature went away with the roadster, whose last year was ’68. In ’66, the wipers were vacuum operated.
The Bronco came in three body styles, with a few variations of each. The model U150 Wagon had a full hardtop and came with or without a rear seat. The U140 pickup used a short cab with a removable bulkhead behind the seats. The U130 roadster came as an open top with door cutouts, ala Jeeps, but a version with doors was offered later. You paid extra for the top! When you ordered the higher GVW Bronco, the designation changed, e.g. a Wagon became a U152, Roadster were U132s, etc. The GVW package included the aforementioned higher GAW rear axle, 1,280 pound rear springs vs 930 pound, and larger rear brakes.
The six models available in 1968. For ’66, the lineup was similar, less the Roadster with doors.
When the 289 V8 entered the fray in March of ’66, the Bronco became the first V8 powered short wheelbase 4x4. With double the gross power and nearly double the torque of the six, the light V8 Bronco was a barn burner. The V8s soon went to the front of the sales line and the magazine tester’s groans of agony turned to moans of joy. Keeping up with traffic was now possible and people who worked their Broncos had the muscle to get the job done. You could say that the 170cid Bronco was a compact Paso Fino with rather muscular legs, and the 289 V8 was a Suffolk Punch draft horse that could step lightly.
The V8 was one of the last major technical developments in the Bronco for a number of years. It debuted at the front of the pack, but before long, the competition began upping the ante while the Bronco stayed pat. The V8 Scout, Chevy Blazer, V6 Jeepster, Toyota FJ-55, and a few others, all debuted within a few years of the Bronco and eclipsed it’s creature comfort features. Ford stayed behind the times by not offering things like power steering and brakes, air conditioning and automatic transmissions until long after most of the competition. The technology was well within Ford’s grasp, but evidently the Bronco did not fit high on FoMoCo’s list of upgrade projects.
The front axle and suspension was a new departure for the day. The Dana 30 was the first open knuckle axle built by that company. The three link coil spring suspension was also new. This basic suspension design also found its way into the pickups of the era.
While the ’66-77 Ford Bronco is a hot collectible, the very earliest models are not all that desired by collectors. A ’66 will bring less than half the price of a ’76 in equal condition. Perhaps the Spartan nature of the earliest units makes them less desirable as a daily driver to some people. Others enjoy the purity of the earliest models. No matter what, the ’66 Bronco was a groundbreaking machine.