Old Iron
Bronco Roadster
Tim Hulick’s ‘66 Roadster was built in September of ‘65 and is only showing 30,544 miles with original Whitco top, original interior and original Wimbledon White paint.
IF THERE’S A FOUR-WHEELER that doesn’t know about the classic ’66-77 Ford Bronco, he must be living on a mountain in Mongolia and driving a Tientsin. There’s no other acceptable excuse, even if you aren’t a Bronco fan, but we can cut you some slack if you don’t remember the Bronco Roadster. Built only for three years, ’66-68, and to the tune of just 5,000 units, it’s the most elusive Bronco collector rig out there.
The Bronco U-100 originated in the ’66 model year with three models, the U13 open topped roadster, the U14 half-cab pickup and the U15 Wagon. The roadster filled two places in the lineup, the low cost, bottom dollar Bronco and the sporty, open air Bronco. Ford built 4,090 of them for the 1966 debut year. This was about 17 percent of total the Bronco production that year. By ’67, Roadster production sank to 698 and in ’68, the final year, production was a mere 212 units and their percentages were even less. The Roadster was not popular with buyers back in “The Day,” with the Wagon being the most popular. But that’s all changed. Today, original Roadsters are becoming a hot number.
The Roadster did see some time in the limelight. Racing legend Bill Stroppe was sent a couple of ’66s to play with. He tried one out in a desert race and was then hooked on both the Bronco and desert racing. The result was a long line of Bronco desert racers. At least one of the ’66s raced for several years as the Bronco “Pony” and a long line of Baja Broncos followed, including the limited production units available to the public via the Ford dealers starting in ’71.
In most respects, the Roadster was just like its two brothers. Where it differed was that it most often came with scalloped fiberglass door inserts instead of doors... and you had to pay extra to get a top and soft doors. You could also buy an open top Roadster with metal doors that could come with or without glass or doorframes. The windshield folded down on all models through ’68 but, obviously, that feature was useful only with no top.
The options packages were roughly the same on all Broncos, accounting for the tops, of course. Starting in March of ’66, you could order a Roadster with the 289 V8 and other performance goodies. Among the attractive options for hardcore ‘wheelers were front and rear limited slips with locking front hubs, optional lower axle ratios (4.57:1 for 6-cyl. and 4.11 for V8), Koenig PTO winch (with a PTO that supplied power fore or aft), 9.15x15 tires, extra cooling radiator, 55 amp alternator, H.D. rear axle (3,300 vs 2,780 pound rating), HD suspension, 12 gallon auxiliary fuel tank, bucket seats, rear seat, interior chrome handrails, 2-way radio, compass, trailer hitch, tow hooks and a snowplow. The aftermarket soon stepped in to fill in the gaps.
Hulick’s ’66 mounts buckets and the optional rear seat. The gray vinyl upholstery was the standard color but there were two upholstery patterns, this tuck and roll and a patterned material.
The bare-Bronco essentials, top off and windshield down. The Springtime Yellow paint on Mike French’s ’66 has faded a bit, but it’s all original with only 62,000 miles. Mike’s is unusual because it has bucket seats and a bulkhead dividing the rear section, apparently original. It’s more common to see buckets without a bulkhead and with a rear seat.
The 170 six for ’66 was sprightly for its small size and economical to boot—to ’68, most had oil bath air filters like this one. The ’66 and ’67 engines were the same, but in ’68 the little six dropped to a mere 75 net horsepower and 139 lbs-ft from the first bite of emissions controls. These included a drop in compression to 8.7:1.
The base Roadster was a nimble performer due to its lighter weight. A base model was 180 pounds lighter than the next lightest, the half-cab pickup (also called the “Sports Utility” by Ford) and 280 pounds lighter than the Wagon. A 289 V8 was not likely to complain much about a couple of hundred extra pounds, but the little 170 six was likely grateful for the lighter weight.
Few major changes occurred in the ’66- 68 time frame, with most of them in ’68. That year, a bunch of safety changes were incorporated, including side reflectors, dual circuit brakes, standard 4-way warning flashers, a thicker dash, new dash knobs, padded visors, integral backup lights, a new breakaway interior rear view mirror and improved safety glass.
The 2-bbl 289 V8 for ’66 and ’67 was free of
emissions controls. Some, like this one,
featured an optional oil bath air filter in
lieu of a throw-away dry filter. By ’68, the
289 had dropped six hp and four lbs-ft from
a lower compression ratio as well as
acquiring the first application of the dreaded,
“smog crap.”
Mike Lucas’ Holly Green ’66 is equipped with
a bench seat and a bulkhead. Because there
are no holes in the body, this Bronco was
never fitted with a top and has absolutely no
options. It was used by a New York state well
drilling company for access to remote
drilling sites and has only 8,955 miles. Note
the black t-case shifter. That was soon
changed to a chrome T-handle because it
looked so much like a tranny shifter. You can
guess what would, and did, happen.
The Whitco top and soft doors were extra.
Paul Druc’s Caribbean Turquoise is showing
only 28,000 miles and still has all the OE top
pieces installed.
Forty-one years later, how can you identify a true roadster? The obvious giveaway for many are the door inserts, but copies have been produced and added to Broncos of all years. Plus, some Roadsters had metal doors. The sure way is the VIN number. A true Roadster from ’66 through ’68 will have a VIN prefix of “U13” (the halfcab, U14 and the Wagon U15). The Roadsters are very rare and original ones with uncut fenders are even rarer. The examples shown here are the rarest of the rare, low mileage, original examples of survival against the odds.
The new Roadster enthusiast website, Bronco U13.com, has a great deal of historical information and is developing a registry of existing roadsters. At this writing, only 37 are listed but there are undoubtedly more. Got one? Register it at the website listed in the sources.