1987 Bronco ii MotorTrend Magazine Prototype "Lil Bucky"

[mpduncan35]

Full story on Lil Bucky
Lil Bucky started life as a normal 1987 Bronco ii. Ford wanted Motor Trend to come up with a Prototype for the 1987 auto show tour. Ford gave Motor Trend the Bronco ii and Motor Trend went to work. Motor Trend added a Mustang SVO hood scoop, tinted the windows, added fog lights, XLS ground effects, removed rubber strips from the bumpers, removed all badging, added 15x7.0in progressive wheels, antenna was removed and hole was filled in, removed rear tire rack holes were filled in, changed the grill, and painted it. Right around this time some one at Motor Trend named it Lil Bucky. The article was in the June of 1987 Motor Trend magazine, and in September 1987 Hot Rod magazine. Ford also gave a hot rod magazine a Aerostar van, car craft a ranger, Petersen’s 4-Wheel and Off-road another ranger. All of these cars went on display at major auto shows in 1987 with Ford. After its short-lived fame Motor Trend used it as a chase car for photo shoots until the mid 90s. Once Motor Trend was done it was parked for close to a decade. Motor Trend sold it in the early 2000s to one of their editors Ron Sessions who used it for a few years as a daily driver. The editor moved to Michigan and Reported 23 mpg from California to Michigan 3000 miles. Sold it to my grandpa to preserve the history. It has just over 84k miles, 4x4, Eddie Bauer interior, 5 speed manual no rust being a California truck. If anyone has any information about it, remembers it from the auto show, read the article, or have any photos from the auto show let me know I'm trying to find all the information I can about it. Also need a XLS front air damp for it.
Link for Hot Rod magazine article with Lil Bucky

 

[RobbieD]

Welcome to TRS.

Great first post; thank you for sharing the story of this unique B2.

Made my day, knowing that something like this has survived; I had never heard of it before.

Wish that I could help with the front air dam; I'd like to find some XLS body kit parts myself.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

This is cool as shit

 

[bobbywalter]

did you have that out at jeffs last april? i was in there getting parts and there was something like that inside and out by the back warehouse. i assumed it was a jbg vehicle.


i was in the tan pos ragtop b2 with exocage.

 

[mpduncan35]

did you have that out at jeffs last april? i was in there getting parts and there was something like that inside and out by the back warehouse. i assumed it was a jbg vehicle.


i was in the tan pos ragtop b2 with exocage.

Jeff is my grandpa, it has been in his collection for the past 20 years. So I don’t think this is the same one you saw, but it was sitting in the showroom. It’s now at my house because he is letting me get it running, and fixing stuff on it and I plan on going around to car shows with it this summer.

 

[RobbieD]

The more I look at that paint scheme, the more I love it.



But . . . . with my sick sense of humor, I'd have named the truck Shamu. (I wouldn't be able to resist it!)

 

[mpduncan35]

Shamu might be better than Lil Bucky
But I’m not planning on changing the name
All the paint is hand painted and you can see some of the brush strokes in the paint.