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Ford Bronco - 5 things you didn’t know

July 17th, 2008 by shenron

In today’s world, it is hard to imagine the streets without sport utility vehicles.  SUVs have become so popular with Moms hauling kids, business owner’s using them as rolling offices, and of course what they were originally meant for, off road driving.  One of the first sport utility vehicles to hit the market was the Ford Bronco.  The Ford Bronco hit the automobile scene in 1966 and stayed in production for thirty-one years until the last one rolled off the assembly line in 1996.  During it’s run as one of the more popular sport utility vehicles, it competed with the Chevrolet’s K5 Blazer, Dodge’s Ramcharger, and Jeep’s Cherokee.  It also gave birth to the immensely popular Bronco II which was a smaller version of the Bronco.  Much is known about the Ford Bronco, but here are five things you may not know about the Ford Bronco.

Ford Bronco 2009

  1. Every Ford Bronco made was a four wheel drive vehicle.  There are two wheel drive varieties around, but they were altered using aftermarket parts made by companies other than Ford.
  2. Ford started redesigning the Bronco as a full-size vehicle, eventually basing it on the F-100 truck, in 1972.  Because of concerns over the fuel crisis of the 1970’s though, the full-size Bronco would not make it’s debut until 1978.
  3. Beginning in the late 1980s and through the 1990s until it ended production, the Bronco which was normally only available in a two-door version became available in a four-door model.  These four-door Broncos were conversions made by another Michigan automobile company called Centurion Vehicles and among the other options they offered was a built in TV and VCR.
  4. The famous white Bronco that O.J. Simpson was riding in while being pursued by the Los Angeles Police Department before his trial in the death of his ex-wife and her friend was a 1993 model.
  5. Donald Frey, the man who conceived of the Ford Bronco was also the main person behind the conception of the Ford Mustang.

Ford Bronco Concept

The Ford Bronco was one of the early sport utility vehicles and it played a large role in revolutionizing the automobile industry.  Even today, many people look back fondly on their memories of the Ford Bronco.  With its unique blend of features common on both a car and a truck, it proved itself a versatile vehicle that could perform many duties.  The Ford Bronco will be looked at for years as one of the greatest automobiles of all time.

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2007 Ford F-150 Harley-Davidson

September 10th, 2007 by shenron

The 2007 Ford F-150 Harley-Davidson manages to produce 450hp and 500 lb-ft. of torque, and is based on the supercharged Ford F-150 Harley-Davidson concept car on display at last November’s SEMA Show.

 Ford F-150 Harley-Davidson

Performance enhancements include a Saleen twin-screw supercharger lifted from the Ford Shelby GT-500, a dual-stage water-to-air intercooler and boost and air-charge temperature gauges. More fast truck reviews at DPCcars.com.

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Ford Explorer Sport Trac

July 24th, 2007 by shenron

The Ford Explorer Sport Trac is a SUV and a Truck at the same time which was first produced in 2001.  It is based on the Ford Explorer SUV and is considered the midway vehicle between the Ford Ranger compact truck and the Ford F-Series full size and super duty truck, with its current classification as a mid-sized pickup truck.  The design in a classic layout with a front engine - however what is different is that it comes in front wheel drive or all wheel drive, uncommon for a truck.  The engine of the first era, combined with its design based on the Ford Explorer made it a formidable truck that could compete with the best.  The engine offered was the Cologne 4.0L 210 horse, the only engine available for the vehicle.  However in 2005 they revamped and redesigned.

Unlike the first era from 01 to 05 with its five speed auto or five speed manual, the next era of Ford Explorer Sport Trac vehicles boasted a six speed automatic, but still kept the five speed manual transmission.  With this new redesign it is still based upon and will probably forever be based on) the Ford Explorer SUV, making the Sport Trac linked for life.  What is new with the current run right now are the engines, with the addition of the 4.6L Modular V8 which gives it 292 horses.  Because the Ford Explorer design is now larger so is the Sport Trac, and with that comes additional strength at the cost of performance, but with this engine the effects are mitigated to just fuel consumption.  Overall as a mid-size pickup truck or SUV the vehicle is an interesting cross that has proven thus far to be a worthy adversary that has sold enough units to allow for its continued production and existence in the truck market today.  Although it lacks the power that you would find in the Ford F-Series for overall hauling power and towing capacity it is still stringer than the fledgling Ford Ranger and will continue to be seen in the future.

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The Ford Ranger II

July 24th, 2007 by shenron

Well, as was previously covered, by 1988 the Ford Ranger had become a moderately successful compact pickup truck with a decent hauling capacity for its size and finally the introduction of an engine that was respectable in the 2.9 Cologne V6.  In 1989 however, ford redesigned and released a face-lifted nip and tuck job on the Ford Ranger, changing how the headlights appeared and giving it a much needed new set of engines.  All 2.0 engines were dropped, and the 2.3 was boosted by 14 horses, the automatics were dropped except for the four speed and the newer better bigger and meaner 4.0L Cologne V6 was handed down by the car gods to the Ranger - giving it 160 horses, followed by a 145 horse replacement for the 2.9L Cologne - the Vulcan V6 3.0.  After this in just a few short years the 1993 Ranger hit the market with a smoother design and more modern look, subtracting many of the manual transmissions leaving just one five speed, and also dropping the 2.9L all together.

Then came the present design, face-lifted and overhauled, in production since 1998, making it almost ten years old today.  However there are rumors that this will indeed be the final era of the Ford Ranger compact, making the truck being produced today a possible non-appearance tomorrow.  Over the past decade this truck has received many tweaks and design changes that are minor but keep it going, such as in 2004 with the new seats for safety and some minor grille and tail light updates.  Today it includes options for a 143 horse 2.3L four strike, a 148 3.0 V6, and a lovely and very powerful for its class 207 Horse V6.  Both transmissions are 5 speed with overdrive.  Today the Ford Ranger is the only compact truck left on the market, with everyone else going to mid-sized vehicles, and because it has not received any major updates it is clear that the future for the Ranger is a very dim one.

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The Ford Ranger I

July 24th, 2007 by shenron

The Ford Ranger is Ford’s first and current line of compact pickup trucks developed after the end of the Ford Ranchero, and is considered to be one of the better compacts on the market.  It began in 1983, four years after the half-a-truck half-a-car Ranchero went out with the dinosaurs, and afterwards the Ford Courier (Mazda B-Series, which is the Ford Ranchero in many other countries) was used for just a short while.  There are actually two kinds of Ford Rangers sold, but the one we will be looking at is the North American Ford Ranger, the other is called the Mazda B-Series which goes by Ford Ranger in 130 other countries.  The truck comes in the common front engine rear wheel or all wheel drive standard models with all of the common additions you could expect from a car.  The first era began in 1983 with its introduction, which focused on efficiency and quality, leading it to have many different transmissions to chose from, with several five speed manuals, a four speed manual, and also two automatics: and three and four speed.

The Ranger was capable of hauling many light loads and small payloads at this time with the engines being the 72 horse 2.0L, and an 86 horse 2.3L - which seems somewhat underpowered today.  There was also the 2.2 Diesel which gave it 59 horses - compare that with the Ford model A truck of the 1920’s and 30’s to see that it had 40 horses back then.  There was, fortunately, a V6 2.8 that gave the truck 115 horses.  After this Ford added one more engine, the same type as the other 2.8L Cologne V6, except just a tiny itsy bit bigger, making it a 2.9 L capable of 140 horses.  This engine gave the truck the power it needed to be a much better competitor in the compact truck market and helped it gain some early success in the truck industry.

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