1987 Bronco ii Motor Trend Magazine Concept Vehicle, what if SVO did a B2?

[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 and went off the idea of what if SVO did a bronco ii. Motor Trend added a Mustang SVO hood scoop, tinted the windows to 35%, added fog lights/fog light covers, XLS ground effects front air damp and side skirts, removed rubber strips from the bumpers, painted the bumpers, removed all badging, added 15 x 7.0 in progressive wheels that were powder coated white paired with Goodyear Wrangler radial tires, antenna was removed and hole was filled in, removed rear tire rack holes were filled in, changed the grill, and hand painted it you can see some imperfections in it and see brush strokes they used Ford paint colors not sure which colors. Unfortunately Motor Trend did not change anything with the drive train or suspension. Right around this time someone 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, haven't found the article for Car Craft/ Petersen's Off Road or if there is any. Ford also gave a hot rod magazine a Aerostar van or what they called it "Aerosport", car craft a Super cab ranger mini truck style, Petersen’s 4-Wheel and Off-road a pre-runner style ranger. Car Craft, Petersen's offroad, Motor Trend, Hot Rod, were all owned by Petersen Publishing Company. It must have been some sort of deal between Ford and Petersen to build concept vehicles. 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 under a skyscraper in LA. 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. He moved to Michigan to do work for GM and drove Lil Bucky from California to Michigan 3000 miles. Sold it to my grandpa to make sure it would not be daily driven in Michigan where it could have rusted away. It has just over 84k miles, 4x4, Eddie Bauer interior, 5 speed manual, electronic Touch-Drive 4x4, came with a tire rack removed by Motor Trend, 3.45 gears, power windows/power locks,cruise control, rear wiper, rear defrost, AC, AM FM radio, cargo cover, center console, tilt wheel, pretty much all the options, no rust being a California truck. I started working on it because it was sitting a needed some attention, replaced gas tank and sending unit, heater core, striker bushings, rear lift gate hydraulic struts, new battery and tie down, new tail lights and cleaned it a lot, lots of polishing and waxing, new seat belt sleeves, plan on being at some shows this summer with it. Also looking for the other cars in the article, I find it unlikely they are still around. Also need a XLS front air damp for it.
Link for Hot Rod magazine article with Lil Bucky
Short article about Lil Bucky
YouTube video with Lil Bucky's history
Video of Lil bucky running for the first time

 

[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.

 

[SenorNoob]

Nice!

And welcome to TRS!

 

[Jim Oaks]

I wonder what happened to the original wheels?

The Motor Trend Ford Bronco II is now featured here:

Motor Trend Ford Bronco II - Bronco II Corral

Discover the story of Motor Trend's custom 1987 Ford Bronco II "Lil Bucky," a unique show vehicle built for Ford's national auto show circuit.

www.broncoiicorral.com