1984 "Buckin Bronco"

Annie had decided she wanted something a bit more sporty, like a BMW, so we decided the deal was that her 2010 Xtrail would be sold and that we would get a BMW 3 series, with the balance going toward a Kombi restoration fund. Soon after a nice navy blue 2003 BMW 330i rolled into the drive way and our son became the proud owner of the Xtrail (albeit at under our optimum exit price). Annie then realised that her towing options for the horse float and getting horse feed were the F Trucks. Flame's (F100) Isuzu 5 speed box is a pig - it has a terrible gate and she is not comfortable with the size and manouverability of Mellow Yellow (F150 Supercab). So the Kombi fund went west and with a bit of negotiation we were in the market for a Ford Bronco. I'd have loved a 1978 Full sized - but not too many in Australia and very pricey. So for a couple of months I hunted Ebay, Carsales.com.au and Gumtree. In the interests of economy I was looking for a dieseI or gas conversion and also wanted an auto. As luck would have it I had to go to Perth again on business, so started hunting the local market and found a pretty original metallic green 1984 Bronco XLT. Annie loved the colour, plus me being a petrol head and the fact that it had a 460V8 - the scales of common sense and rational thinking were tilted. A couple of phone calls and photos and a deal was done - bought sight unseen. I was not disappointed when I first laid eyes on it. We both love it, Annie because of the colour and I just can't help myself every now and then, sticking the boot into it just to hear the throaty roar when the secondaries open.

From what I understand a previous owner in Victoria bought it for his wife to tow her horse float, decided the factory 351 did not have enough grunt so swapped in the 460 - in 2004.

Along the way it has acquired a few goodies - a Holley 670CFM 4160 with vacuum secondaries, Edelbrock Performer manifold, MSD distributor, Koni shocks and the obvious - alloy bull bar with Hella spot lights.

It's a good thing that the plan was limited use, as it can just about pass anything on the road but a fuel pump - the economy or lack thereof, is just ridiculous we have put about 2,000 km on it so far and achieved about 2.5 km/litre city and 4.2 km/litre highway. A search of the forums indicates it is not going to get any better. I can't believe what was in the minds of the designers when I compare this with what we get from our diesels. Don't get me wrong, I love our Bronco but..................