I know I’m not the only one who laments the fact that there are very, very few small vehicles being made these days. If a person has several kids, I could see owning a giant SUV, but otherwise, the ones I see are mainly in the left lane being used as texting driver deflectors. This nice, small, 1988 Ford Bronco II XL Sport is listed here on eBay in Canton, Georgia, and they’re asking $20,890.
The new 2026 Ford Bronco is between 14.5 feet long and 16 feet long, so they aren’t huge. This Bronco II is just over 13 feet in length, so about 16″ shorter than the shortest new Bronco. They are small, and I know that the vast majority of Americans like to have huge vehicles these days. Somewhere, there are stats on whether they are safer or if they just make the owners feel safer. I’m guessing it’s about 50/50. The deep-dish aluminum wheels are standard with the Sports Appearance package. The seller says this Bronco II is one of just 436 specified like this, according to the Marti Report.
Ford made the Bronco II for model years 1984 through 1990, and as 99% of you know, they came in this one body style, a two-door with a rear cargo hatch. Speaking of that, here’s what the rear cargo area looks like. We’ve seen some really nice ones here on Barn Finds, but this has to be one of the nicest, not to mention one of the nicest spec’d ones. This is an XL Sport, a somewhat unusual trim level compared to the XLT or Eddie Bauer versions we usually see. You can see dual exhaust poking out of the back; that’s more than a bit unusual. Those chrome tips would go away within the first five minutes that I owned this one, but that’s just a personal preference.
That long 5-speed manual shifter is great to see, and the almost perfect-looking Scarlet Red interior goes well with the Raven Black exterior on this XL Sport model. The back seat looks perfect, and I’m wondering what a Bronco II owner would keep in that open cubby hole above the glove box? The underside has been coated, as seen in the many underside photos. The tube bumpers are original to this XL Sport, as is the front brush/grille guard, according to the seller. Here’s a fun brochure of the ’88 Bronco IIs.
The seller has included over 120 photos, so please click on the eBay link and check out this great-looking Bronco II. The engine is Ford’s Cologne 2.9-liter fuel-injected V6 with 140 net horsepower and 170 lb-ft of net torque when new. Backed by the transfer case and a Mitsubishi-sourced five-speed manual sending power to all four wheels as needed, the seller says it was sold new in Georgia, and everything works as intended. Hagerty is at $20,100 for a #2 excellent-condition Bronco II, and this one looks that nice to me. Any thoughts on this Bronco II XL Sport?
Good write-up SG. These were nifty little rigs. This one looks to be in great shape. The 5-speed would give it a bit more of the fun factor. I agree, the XL Sport isn’t commonly seen.
In the World of Bronco, the Bronco II’s are kind of overlooked. I wouldn’t do any off-roading with one so nice, but it would make for a fun run-around vehicle.
These were everywhere when new, but have become all but extinct, coming from an area where rust isn’t an issue that helps tell a story. There are fans, but $20,000+ generally requires more than a fan, at that price level you’ve really have to want one. Since it’s a dealer, the price will be aggressive and they may have a hard time finding a buyer.
Steve R
The reason you’re not seeing really small SUVs is it costs almost as much to make them as it does large ones, so they’d have to be priced accordingly. There’d be few takers.