We saw a 1987 Bronco II a few days ago, and here’s another great looking one. This is a 1986 Ford Bronco II and it’s in Victor, Montana, about 40 miles south of Missoula. It’s on Craigslist for $3,000 or trade.
The two-tone paint was a little more elegant on the other Bronco II, if a person could describe any part of the Bronco II as elegant. This example also has some areas where the paint is wearing off as you can see above, but it looks great to me otherwise. On a $3,000 vehicle I’d expect some flaws, and just so it isn’t flapping in the wind with rust it looks great to me.
The rear of these trucks really had the classic 1980s Ford design. And, once you open that huge liftgate you’ll have lots of room inside. And, what a great looking inside is.. inside!
Boom! There’s a 5-speed shifter right there, nice! The previous Bronco II was an automatic with overdrive, but give me a manual any day of the week, especially in a vehicle like this one. The interior looks about as nice as a 30-year old vehicle can look unless it’s been in storage its whole life. There doesn’t appear to be AC in this one but for a winter vehicle this would be great. Ok, I know, defrosters work better if a vehicle has AC but, for $3,000 or trade, we can’t have everything. The seller shows a photo of a valuation listing that this Bronco II has AC, so maybe I missed it on the control panel? I don’t see a spot for AC and there are no engine photos, so who knows. Speaking of engine, this one should have the same 2.9L Cologne V6 with 140 hp as the previous Bronco II. There can be cylinder head problems with this engine so be prepared. This truck has 88,600 miles on it.
This seems like another great little 4×4 to me, even better because of that manual transmission. What do you think about this shift-it-yourself Bronco II?
Ford Blue, manual, 4×4, the 80’s…..What more could one want.
The farm I live at ( I know, the farm I live at, the farm I live at, lot of junk here) has a Bronco just like this. Not near as nice, I think he got it for nothing. Still yard drives, and it IS a 4×4. Not a bad 4×4. Good size, V-6 seems adequate. I believe, it was these ( and the Suzuki Samari) that failed miserably on roll-over tests, Ford cancelled the “J turn”, for fear the testers would get hurt and more people (260) were killed in roll-over crashes in Bronco ll’s, than any other SUV, up to that time. Ford contended to the end, it was driver error that caused many of the crashes, and I believe that, but they still were kind of jumpy, but not any worse than any other 4×4 at the time, but a novice could get into trouble. Remember. 4×4’s were in their infancy, and just starting to catch on with the “rural” set, so many people went from a Buick sedan, to a Bronco ll 4×4, and found out fast, they were very different vehicles. 4×4’s today have become these objects of wizardry, with gadgets not found on some luxury cars, and that is silly. Here’s a good ol’ fashioned 4×4 ( you have to MANUALLY get out, and lock the front hubs, good grief) that looks like in great shape. I’d say, with all my automotive experience, if you’re looking for a decent 4×4, you can’t go wrong here.
I was the auto right behind one of these entering the Hood canal bridge in Washington state. He was pulling a very small travel trailer and as he entered the bridge a gust of wind, which I did not feel, blew him over on his side with trailer. As I watched this unfold I was hoping he and his passenger would be ok sliding along the bridge surface. Any way every thing come to a stop and I ran up to help, both were ok. WSP was called and I was on my way but the ease of which it rolled on to its side my an impression on me to never buy or ride in one of these.
Never was a fan of these since being a owner of the first generation Bronco but my boss had one and drove it daily with no issues at all. This looks nice just wish he had posted pictures of the engine bay. Yes it does look to have A/C.
In 86 they came with the new 2.9L 146 HP engine. They felt fast and I liked driving them. I sold them in 88 and 89. The 5 speed was actually very nice to shift. The uptake on the clutch was hard for many to master. The clutch did nothing until the top of the uptake – a lot of stalling for many people in the beginning.
Living in Vermont at the time, the big plus on the Bronco II? Fiberglass (or some sort of plastic) liftgate. No rust there – everywhere else was fair game.
I drove one of these delivering and picking up parts for a couple years. It was scary the first couple that mess I drove it, but once I got accustomed to it I found it fun to drive, especially on those days when it snowed so heavenly that most people stayed home. I agree with Ford that most roll overs were driver error, but still felt Ford was partially responsible for not educating buyers properly. This is a great example of and early 4X4.
I don’t believe that this has factory A/C. If it did, it would have a square button with a blue light on the control panel.
Had an ’87 Eddie Bauer edition. Truck was immaculate and drove well but had an overheating problem I couldn’t nail down. The truck actually caught fire once. Thermostat wasn’t the problem and a mechanic kept it for three weeks without figuring it out. That being said, it would spin on its own axis in the snow in 4wd while my pickup took a half acre to turn around. Would buy again.
If you live in Missoula, Montana you have no need for A/C.