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Per Bruce Bolander, our FFF chairman, and his wife Toni, the final Bronco attendance was:

Last year’s winner   1

Centurion 4 dr          1

Bronco II                    2

Stroppe                     5

Uncut                       10

Full Size                  11

EB modified           60

 

Total                        90 out of 116 possible (115 pre-registered plus last year’s winner)

 

Much higher percent of no-shows than our typical 10%.

 

My grand total FFF registered count is 1757.  That’s from the count on the parking map, plus last year’s winner and the milestone car count from our meeting notes.  Peggy Wall said it was down about 200 this year.

 

Total Mustangs were 937.  Once again, we were the largest class next to the Mustangs.  In fact, there were only two Mustang classes with more than us (64-66 at 142 and 05-09 at 136).  Next below us was the 93-04 Mustang SVT Cobra at 105, the F-series at 53 and then the 55-57 T-Birds at 45, but this was their milestone year.

 

I had a chance to talk to Dan, last year’s Stroppe trophy winner.  He is still totally upbeat and thrilled about the show and had lots of spectators around his yellow Bronco.

 

After the disappointment in not being able to layout the parking on Saturday, every Bronco parker rose to the call and was in the gate around 5 am.  We got the layout done by 6:30, just in time to make the parker meeting.  Our parkers were outstanding!  Everyone did their job and hung in there until the end.  They all really deserve a thumbs up for a great job.

 

We have just set the date and location for Bronco Daze 2010! 

Bronco Daze is our BIG event of the year and will be hosted at the Palm Canyon Resort and Hotel. This is an unusual Bronco event in that it is rare to find a location that combines all types of 4-wheeling with the pleasure and comfort of a great hotel (owned by a fellow Bronco enthuiast) with pools, restaurant, RV park and more.  

Bronco Daze had 80 vehicles register for 2009, and about 200 folks in all.  We hope 2010 finds even more of you that would like to participate! 

Here are the great companies That supported Bronco Daze with raffle prizes in 2009:

• Advanced Adapters
• American Bronco (Attended) 
• ARB
• B.C. Broncos 
• Bestop
• BIG-O Tires, Ramona
• Bloomfield Mfg Co.
• Bronco Driver Magazine
• Bushwacker 
• California Duster
• Centerline
• Corbeau USA
• Currie Enterprises
• Dreamy Nails and Spa, Ramona
• Driven Auto Parts
• Duff Enterprises (Attended)
• Edelbrock Corp
• Glenrose Covey (Attended) 
• Hayden Automotive
• High Impact Transmission and Gear
• Ididit
• JB Custom Fabrication 
• Julian Cafe and Bakery
• Julian Imports
• K&N Engineering
• LMC Truck 
• Master Power Brakes
• Meguiar's
• Mercedes Benz of San Diego
• Mile Marker 
• M.I.T. (Mechanically Inclined Technicians) (Attended) 
• Mom's Pies
• National Parts Depot (NPD) 
• Off Road Trail Tools
• Pechanga Resort and Casino (Attended) 
• Quinn Knives
• Ron Francis Wiring
• Tom's Bronco Parts 
• Sears, Ramona
• Stallions Customs Auto Customizing, Ramona 
• Summit Racing
• Sycuan Casino
• Wild Horses (Attended) 

 

 

We reported recently that Ford was bringing back the 5.0L engine in the 2011 Mustang. Since we Bronco types haven't been able to get a new Ford crate 289-302-5.0 engine since 1995, we hoped this engine might put Bronco's back "in the game". Sorry - it isn't that easy. This new engine is all new from the ground up with dual overhead cams, and we don't have any idea if it can be made to work in a Bronco. Follow the link below that EB guru Todd Zuecher supplied us to see more information.

Click here for the new 5.0L engine article

However - If you are dying to see what 412 horspower is like in your Bronco, get your name on the new Mustang waiting list. As soon as you take ownership, strip the engine out and see if it fits in your Bronco. Take photos and send them to us - the world is waiting!

Bronco Daze 2009 was a special year loaded with historic Broncos, and one of them (a factory stock restored Bronco) won the best in class awared.  Here's a summary of a few of the special treats that we there.  

 

- Rod Hall's former Class 3 Stroppe Racer.  Todd Zuercher located this one in Arizona 15 or so years ago.  It's finally ours (we partnered on it), and it's one of the least-changed Stroppe racers in existence.  It started life as an engineering Bronco U13 for FoMoCo and became a Stroppe truck as early as 68 and was used by them right up until mid-late 76 as far as we can tell.  It's currently named "Red Racer" by Todd and it's history is still being examined.  However, several wins including the Baja 500 and 1000 and Parker 400 are confirmed!

 

- Bobby and Al Unser's 1969 Mint 400 Stroppe Bronco Racer.  Bobby and Al got frustrated and gave up the first day, then Parnelli and Al finished the 2nd day, in 3rd place, driving this Bronco only to be disqualified for a driver change!  Rebuilt in 1981 as a regular Bronco built for mild trails,  it has survived and many Stroppe and race details were retained.  On top of that History, it has the most "Broncocentric" nightmare Previous owner modifications of any nice-driving Bronco out there.  It's coming under it's own power to FFF this year.  The cherry on the icing, on the whipped cream, on the cake, is that from what Willie Stroppe and I can tell, this truck is one of the first 2-3 Stroppe racing Broncos and is likely the 68 season truck of Larry Minor and Jack Bayer, which won Stardust, Baja, and Mint races that year.

 

- Silver Fox.  Duane Kennedy's famous Bronco.  Affilliated with James Duff at the time, the Silver Fox had all the chrome and custom paint, plus all the popular mods at the time.  It was featured in magazines and in Duff's catalog in the 70s and 80s and was many a current Bronco buffs secret crush Bronco.  Terry Marvel recognized it and snapped it up and has been gathering the parts necessary to make it a clean driver while not changing ANYTHING.  Many of us today perusing FFF would love to see this truck in all it's glory rather than the poster on the wall we all grew up with!

These trucks, all 3, were discovered last year and are HUGE finds for the Bronco hobby.  Quite possibly the 2 winningest Stroppe Broncos (aside from Big Oly), and the most state of the art, cleanly executed Bronco Part supplier's calling card Bronco of the 70s.   As you can tell I'm excited, and I think it might be cool to find a special spot for these 3 if possible!!

 

Andrew

www.BajaBronco.com

 

We are sometimes asked when the Early Bronco Registry began holding their Five-year ANNIVERSARY events.  Here is a quick summary of the facts:

20th ANNIVERSARY - 1986. 14 Broncos. Bonsall CA. The first event with Ford PR sponsorship. No one knew then that it would be repeated.  We did get a group photo with a large banner that is still used at each five year event.

25th ANNIVERSARY - 1991. 51 Broncos. Truckhaven Hills, CA. A huge wind storm didn't stop the fun and the magic.  The first event for Jim Creel of Wild Horses and the last event for John Karp and Hal Sealand of K-Bar-S.

30th ANNIVERSARY - 1996. 167 Broncos. Lone Wolf Colony, Victorville CA. Wow, what a turn out - a world record at the time. Harry Robinson (Link-Arc Welders) helped us get over $30,000 in raffle donations - another record in 1996.

35th ANNIVERSARY - 2001.  304 Broncos.  Lone Wolf Colony, Victorville CA.  Like the 30th only HUGE, still the world record Bronco turnout!  Broncos came from everywhere:  the east to west coast and from Mexico to Canada.

40th ANNIVERSARY - 2006.  264 Broncos.   Mojave Narrows Regional Park, Victorville CA . A once-in-a-lifetime "Evening with the Legends"; two hours of back-slapping stories by the guys that put the Bronco on the racing map.

Fabulous Fords Forever (FFF) is one of the largest Ford car events in the country with nearly 2000 Fords of all years and models on public display for five hours on a beautiful Sunday every April.  Until four of us showed up with our Early Broncos in 1992, there were NO Broncos at all and no Bronco category.  Today Broncos have their own official class (Class 20) and we are consistantly second largest vehicle class at FFF, only following the 2005-2008 Mustang.

Here are some attendance numbers for prior Fab Fords years:

1991 - 0.  The 25th Anniversary and there were zero (0) Broncos. Ford didn't know what Bronco's where.
1992 - 4.  The first time any Early Broncos were at FFF.
1993 - 43.  We spead the word, and many more showed up.
1994 - ?
1995 - 52.  Most FFF cars are shinny.  Broncos were clean to muddy, stock to bashed.  Folks were amazed.
1996 - 73.  The Bronco's 30th Anniversary. 
1997 - 66
1998 - ?
1999 - 84. We became the 2nd largest car class, second only to Mustang. 
2000 - 80
2001 - 153. The 35th Anniversary. 20 Broncos were sent back because there was no room
2002 - ?
2003 - 179
2004 - 133
2005 - ?
2006 - 200. The 40th Anniversary. Our record attendance year!
2007 - 116
2008 - 98
2009 - 99
2010 - 90
2011 - The 45 Anniversary.  What will happen then?