1/25 AMT 1978 Ford Bronco "Wild Hoss"

[Mr mopar]

On 12/6/2021 at 7:32 AM, Casey said:

Was a manual trans available? If so, do any other 1/25 scale kits include it?

Hoping Round2 goes the extra mile and provides some Free Wheeling decals, too:

 

Also acceptable, and maybe even preferable:

oh Boy would that be extra cool if they did !

[Mike C.]

Any word on the re- release date yet ?

[Casey]

[stavanzer]

Add a Lightbar and some Baywatch decals, and you have a perfect Beach Patrol Vehicle!

[Oldcarfan27]

When, when. Here's my money. WHEN!!!

[Mike C.]

Still haven't seen it on any of the coming soon pages.

[Luc Janssens]

On 4/23/2022 at 3:28 AM, stavanzer said:

Add a Lightbar and some Baywatch decals, and you have a perfect Beach Patrol Vehicle!

Remember Revell (Venice) having a CHP? Bronco, back in the day, so yes why not?

BTW did the US border patrol use these model year Bronco's?

Edited April 25, 2022 by Luc Janssens

[keyser]

[Mike C.]

I feel this is the best looking 2 years of the Broncos run. ?

[stavanzer]

I was always partial to the Un-Loved Small Bronco, the  Bronco II.

I lusted after one back then. Never did get one, but I drive quite a few in my duties as a Used Car mechanic,

Gofer Racing Decals has a sheet that would work for several US Govt Bronco's or Ramchargers.

 

https://www.modelroundup.com/product-p/gr-11057.htm

[Fabrux]

There is a seller on eBay that does a printed Bronco II body. Would need a lot of work to make a proper vehicle out of it, though. The curved rear windows would be fun. Use the AMT Ranger or Explorer kits as a donor. I've been seriously considering getting it as I grew up in an '88 Bronco II. ?

[Mike C.]

On 4/25/2022 at 2:23 AM, Oldcarfan27 said:

When, when. Here's my money. WHEN!!!

I can't get my money out fast enough. ?

[Oldcarfan27]

7 hours ago, Fabrux said:

I've been seriously considering getting it as I grew up in an '88 Bronco II. ?

Did it stunt your growth?! ?

[Mike C.]

20 hours ago, stavanzer said:

I was always partial to the Un-Loved Small Bronco, the  Bronco II.

 

The truck equivalent to the Mustang II.

[Smoke Wagon]

I think Bronco II’s biggest problem was negative publicity and people being too dumb for their own good. Same deal with the Suzuki Samurai. Here me out here.

Step 1: Make an affordable, compact (short wheelbase), body-on-frame 4x4 SUV. 

Step 2: Make it available and market it to folks who wouldn’t normally buy anything high off the ground with four wheel drive. 

This sets off a chain of events that goes as follows:

1. Lots of people who were used to driving econoboxes are now behind the wheel of a type of vehicle they don’t really know how to drive. Those people do things such as taking corners just as fast as they did with the cars they owned before, without taking into consideration that their cars’s center of gravity is now more than a foot higher than it used to be.

2. Rollover accidents happen more often as a result. Due to the nature of these crashes, they’re often more fatal, which attracts more attention from the public and news media. 

3. News programs hungry for a big story take wind of these higher fatality statistics, and run full speed ahead with it. If I remember correctly, 60 Minutes did a story on the Samurai, and went so far as to cheat their own tests in an effort to get a Samurai to roll over. Took them a few tries but eventually they managed.

4. The general public accepts these skewed results and runs with it. Eventually vehicles like the Bronco II and Samurai become shunned and looked down upon by most, akin to vehicles like the Pinto and Gremlin. When in reality, they’re just as fine as their competitors of the time: S-10 Blazers, XJ Cherokees, 4Runners, etc.

[Rob Hall]

I drove an '88 Bronco II for 6 years back in the 90s...was a fun little SUV w/ a manual.  Biggest issues I had with it were the driver's seat back warped over time, 3 years in Michigan got it rusty, it was underpowered (struggled with the mountains on I-70 in Colorado), and was sensitive to crosswinds.  It was my first SUV, and had my first off-roading experiences in Colorado with it.  When it was tired and rusty I traded it and moved on to the larger, plusher WJ Jeep Grand Cherokee...22 years later, still driving JGCs.....

My late brother's '89 Bronco II is sitting in my barn, need to put a battery in it and some air in the tires, get a key made and see if it will run...

Edited April 28, 2022 by Rob Hall

[keyser]

@Rob HallBarn find. Since nobody can afford early’s, nice big Broncos, or new ones without paying stupid money, I predict good Bronco II’s will take off soon enough. 
Sorry about your bro. 
 

[Mark]

The problem with the Bronco II was that, with the split front axle, one side of it was about a hundred pounds heavier than the other, which messed up the handling.

One of the news "magazine" shows ripped into the Jeep CJ-5.  But it was due to a film supplied by AMC which showed one front wheel lifting in a tight turn.  The thing was built to carry troops on a battlefield, not to change lanes at 70 miles per hour.  I wouldn't buy one and expect to drive it like a Corvette, but I guess other people have different expectations.

[stavanzer]

I had an '88 Samurai. What a Blast to drive! Nimble and fun, I had driven a CJ-5 Before the little 'Zuki, so I knew how to drive it. I never found it to be squirrelly, but I can see how others did. My only complaint was how badly underpowered it was. In most parts of the world the little 1.3 litre engine was probably fine. But Climbing the Hwy 99/I-5 Grapevine in California? Had to run that poor engine at Redline for about 8 miles heading South and about 6 miles heading North to return home. It got awful mileage of course driving from Bakersfield to Valencia, but was okay in town. I would not mind having another one.

Edited April 28, 2022 by stavanzer

[Fabrux]

On 4/26/2022 at 5:02 PM, Oldcarfan27 said:

Did it stunt your growth?! ?

No, but it was a sweatbox in the back seat. Black, giant fixed windows, no AC... ?

[Mike C.]

Anyone can argue why the Bronco II didn't do very well but at the end of the day it was just plain ugly. Most of the other years were so much better looking. It's the Mustang II all over again.

Now when is the Wild Hoss reissue coming out? ?

Edited April 28, 2022 by Mike C.

[tim boyd]

Interesting comments on the Bronco II. 

It actually sold relatively well and was really liked by many buyers, including women who otherwise might have ended up buying cars.  

Toward the end of the production cycle there were some pretty popular Special Value Packages that really appealed to willing marketplace.  At that time, I was the Southeast US Regional Marketing Manager for Ford and I really pushed our dealers and dealer advertising associations to order and merchandise the 4x2 version of the Bronco II for two reasons.  1) it was a really good value with lots of advertising appeal and less expensive than many similarly equipped cars at that time and 2) the Explorer was in the late stages of its product development and I knew it was going to be a smash hit (although I had no idea at that time just how BIG of a hit it would eventually become), and I wanted our SE Region dealers to build their sales history of Bronco II's because that would help them earn a bigger share of Explorer production when it launched in 1990 1/2.   Both reasons played out exactly as I had hoped.  

So at the end of the Bronco II production, the next generation was enlarged, substantially upgraded and improved, and rebadged Explorer, with both 2 and 4 door versions  And over the next 10 years, it (and to a lesser extent, the Grand Cherokee) pretty much owned what we called the Compact SUV segment back then. 

Now back to modeling, I'd love to see some of your builds using that 3D printed body and suitably modified underpinnings form the AMT/Ertl Ranger STX 4x4 kits...

TB 

[Plowboy]

33 minutes ago, tim boyd said:

 

Now back to modeling, I'd love to see some of your builds using that 3D printed body and suitably modified underpinnings form the AMT/Ertl Ranger STX 4x4 kits...

TB 

One would have to use an Explorer for a Bronco II donor. But, I'm not sure if the Explorer had the TTB in '96. I have one that I can check. There were no 4X4 Rangers. AMT did make a long bed 4X4 Ranger as a promo. But, it has everything molded in.  

[Rob Hall]

12 minutes ago, Plowboy said:

One would have to use an Explorer for a Bronco II donor. But, I'm not sure if the Explorer had the TTB in '96. I have one that I can check. There were no 4X4 Rangers. AMT did make a long bed 4X4 Ranger as a promo. But, it has everything molded in.  

'95 was when the Explorer went to the SLA suspension.  The early Explorers ('91-94) had TTB similar to the Bronco II, but never kitted in 1/25th.  There was an early Explorer 2dr  in 1/20th by Lindberg, IIRC...

[Plowboy]

21 minutes ago, Rob Hall said:

'95 was when the Explorer went to the SLA suspension.  The early Explorers ('91-94) had TTB similar to the Bronco II, but never kitted in 1/25th.  There was an early Explorer 2dr  in 1/20th by Lindberg, IIRC...

Yeah, I checked my '96 Explorer and it has the SLA suspension.