Vehicle Description
America's most notorious 4x4 is also becoming a great collectable.
This 1982 Ford Bronco 4x4 XLT Lariat is now eligible for AACA shows
and remains the pinnacle of full-sized Bronco fun. Very nicely
preserved, this is the one to own if you've always admired the big
Bronco.
Ford did gangbuster business in the late '80s with their upscale
off-road machines, and not many full-sized off-roaders were more
admired than the Bullnose Bronco. The possible color options were
seemingly endless for these trucks, but the Midnight Blue Metallic
and Wimbledon White on this handsome two-tone Bronco is elegant yet
sporty, and really looks great on the lines of this SUV. Frankly,
it's hard to believe that these went out of production more than
two decades ago. I mean, this sucker's in fantastic condition for
its age. Other than the resprayed hood, we believe this Bronco
still carries its original coat, so it's showing a bit of age but
nothing critical and it certainly speaks highly of the care it has
received over the years. The bumpers look great, the grille and
headlights are excellent, and the blue removable roof adds just the
right contrast to give it a heavy-duty look. Go ahead, just try to
find one this clean and without any questionable modifications;
they just don't exist like this anymore!
The interior is another very pleasant surprise, offering cool blue
cloth/vinyl buckets and lots of space for five. Ford insisted on
upscale appointments in the top-of-the-line Lariat models, and the
cloth inserts in the seats and the wood trim on the door panels and
dash make the cabin of this Bronco a very comfortable place to be.
Nice blue carpets still feel plush, and as the most expensive of
the Ford SUVs, this Bronco sports very desirable features
including: A/C, a rear defogger, and an upgraded Sony
AM/FM/CD/AUX/Bluetooth head unit that powers the JL Audio
subwoofers in the rear cargo area. The amazingly crack-free dash is
one of the more car-like features of this big truck, and although
there's no center console, a cup holder and small storage tray was
installed in between the buckets as a handy place to put your
coffee. A full array of big, legible gauges are in front of the
driver, with the climate controls and stereo waaaaay over there in
the center of the dash, and just below that are the shifters for
the 4-speed manual transmission and 2-speed transfer case. The
nicely appointed back seat looks barely used and the cargo bay is
positively massive, fully upholstered and with the spare mounted
out back, you can take pretty much everything you own.
Ford's erstwhile 302 cubic inch V8 is a great choice to move all
this sheetmetal, providing plenty of low-end grunt that never feels
strained. Despite a vast aftermarket for the venerable 5.0, this
one remains quite stock, aside from a few cosmetic highlights like
the finned valve covers, matching air cleaner, and light blue on
the brackets and power brake system. The engine bay is as clean as
the rest of the truck, and if it's ever seen anything rougher than
a gravel driveway, I'd be surprised. With a 4-speed manual
transmission and a 2-speed transfer case, this truck is equally
happy at highway speeds or crawling at barely a walking pace and
the suspension is built for off-roading that would strand one of
today's "cute utes." The exhaust system uses a custom Flowmaster
muffler with twin outlets, providing a nice rumble to this tough
Bullnose. Handsome polished aluminum wheels are in fantastic shape,
wearing 33x12.50-15 BFGoodrich All-Terrain white-letter radials
which are pretty pricey all by themselves.
If you grew up in the '80s, you know this is a cool truck, and you
just won't find more full-sized go-anywhere transportation for less
cash than this. Call today!
