Besides its infamous connection with one of the country’s most captivating chase scenes, the Ford Bronco is also a capable off-roader and a rare vehicle to find in preserved condition (for that very reason!) This 1989 model here on eBay has only 36,000 miles and is also an unusual 4-speed manual model. With plenty of desirable factory options on board, I’m not surprised bidding is already over $10,000 with plenty of time left in the auction.
Though not lavish, these Broncos were comfortable cruisers with power options and thickly-padded bucket seats. Whenever I see one now, I’m reminded of the television show Longmire on Netflix where the lead character drives his Bronco 4×4 almost anywhere and takes every beating he lashes on it. This one is not for beating on, however, but it does beg the question of what you’ll use it for since taking it bushwhacking will certainly hurt its value.
This Bronco is equipped with the factory’s 4.9L six-cylinder, which the seller claims can achieve nearly 20 m.p.g’s when mated with the manual transmission and huge fuel tank capacity. There is tremendous love for this motor, which some claim is the best engine Ford ever built. Read up on it and you’ll see owners professing some absolutely insane mileage claims, approaching 600,000 and beyond. If all of that holds true, a Bronco with this engine and under 40,000 original miles is indeed appealing if you’ve been hunting for one.
The body is also in mint condition, which is just one more feather in this truck’s cap. So many of these in the Northeast have been used as plows, farm vehicles, work trucks and other heavy-duty tasks in all sorts of weather. The bodies are rarely in this good of condition, so between that and the equipment options, I’m sure the seller will achieve his buy-it-now price of $18,500 (if not sail right past it). This one could be fun to watch, especially if you know where one of these trucks is hiding in a farmer’s barn.
The 4.9 our 300 inline six was also a tractor engine / Has anyone hard what the car in the GRAB BAG BARN was it was DEC 27 the mistory car
We had a F150 2wd with the 6 cyl and 856,000 miles on it ,It was a parts delivery truck from day one and saw many different drivers
We changed the oil EVERY two weeks and washed it every weekend.
It was stolen and taken to Pennsylvania ( the guy that stole it was a neighborhood scrap dealer who did scrapping for me on occasion ) He said he was driving it around the farm there
Didnt bother to turn him in to the police because they didnt care when anything was stolen in our town
drove one of these for work years ago in an experimental forest out east. yes, it was a rough and ready vehicle for off-roading on 2 tracks and fjording small creeks. outfitted with a winch on the front the only time i had to use it was when the tires could not handle the wet clay mud and it slid sideways off the 2 track into the ditch. in all honesty the tires were lousy – the truck deserved better. that truck sure did squeak a lot.
I prefer the 92~96 front fascia but I’d take this too. Love the colors on this one. Very nice truck.
had one of those engs in an ex usaf F350 82 3spd auto was a great work horse, about 10 yrs ago,
quite a few seemed to have been sold of around that time here in the uk.
have an 04 aus falcon ute now.
fancied a bronco & that would do nicely has a hobby car.& occasional show hauler for one of the Cortina’s.
Broncos will never die.. This is a great find..
No, they just rotted from the inside out. My 94 with 88K Drove into Scrap Yard Strong. Hood and front end sheet metal were questionable. Had a ” Lick em and stick em” final inspection. They front end did the Salsa Dancing when going anywhere. Didn’t want to open the hood for loss of integrity, the front end would have probably fallen off or imploded. NEVER will but another Furd. They really screwed the public with the F Series. At least I know what F Series Meant/means. F the consumer.
Way back when I drove one of these with a 302 in it from Houston to Joplin.
I think it was an 85 model and had grey in place of the white seen on this one,
The trip took 8.5 hours and 3 pints of peach tree schnapps.
I don’t exactly remember how much gas we used but I do remember it was quite a bit I did not drive under 85 hardly any of the trip.
That was one of the best road trips I ever had and would never try it again.
this seller has a newer bronco for sale also. this one sure looks good and has the right motor/trans. have to watch to see is seller gets the BIN price for it. great find.
An acquaintance married an Italian woman and imported his Bronco with NH plates to Italy where it was twice as tall as everything else on the road, and, since in Italy you keep the plate the car was born with, not only did he have a unique truck but NH plates that said “COOT” since he was an avid duck hunter. Many stares and puzzled looks as we drove by. And the rudimentary back seat, compared with the front, was not a bad ride.
Bought the wife a 80 Bronco so she would leave my 4×4 alone, traded her 78 Cobra for it. It had the 302 v8 and a auto trans. It was a nice family cruiser for her and the kids but we took it on vacation pulling a travel trailer up the hills in Ozark country and it barely made it to the top, scared the crap out me, needed better gearing for sure. This is a nice looking Bronco, love the colors.
Beautiful example of the 87-91 generation of trucks. Yes, the 300 six was one of Ford’s best – especially after EFI was added in the late 90s. I wonder if this was a special order considering the high trim level with the 6 cyl. Surprised to see the 4 speed too as I thought they were all discontinued when Ford introduced the 5 speeds across the board for ’88.
Sweet
I’ve always wanted a Bronco so I could get to those hard to reach surf casting locations on The Cape. This one is too nice for that though
SWEET ride….my brother still owns his 88 XLT bought new. Been a great truck
Seller is most definitely getting his reserve price, I think…
I had a guy that worked for me that had a truck with this engine in it. He rolled the odo four times, he had a long commute, and took meticulous care of it. He traded it in after the fourth roll over and the dealer wrote it up as having under 100K! The guy didn’t correct him and took the insane trade in amount towards his new Ford!
Not my thought when it comes to honesty but not my deal either.
As for this Bronco, I absolutely love the color and body style. Plus that six will run forever!!! As someone prior stated, it was truly a tractor engine! You know those things are built for the worst and nothing a truck could throw at it would phase it!!
Way too rich for my blood!! That’s too bad, I would take the couch and this Bronco as opposed to the bed and no Bronco!!!!!
sold for $18425
Absolutely amazing.