Who knew in 1978 that the Ford Bronco Ranger XLT would today be so popular. With four days remaining in the auction, this 67,015 mile cream puff has been bid to $31,000. You can see numerous pictures of this four wheel drive, two door Bronco here on eBay. The truck is located in Ramsey, New Jersey and it looks like it is ready for a cross country road trip.
The low back bucket seats and carpet match the exterior cinnamon brown and Wimbledon white exterior. A set of aftermarket gauges have been slung under the dash which also sports an aftermarket digital radio. The truck is equipped with a column shifted automatic transmission, power steering, console, air conditioning and cruise control. You will have to roll up the windows manually.
The truck is equipped with a 2 barrel 351 cubic inch V8 engine which delivered only 156 horsepower and 262 ft lbs of torque in 1978. This truck won’t win any races moving around the 4,500 lb body but this truck was not built for racing. The slotted aluminum wheels look pretty nifty, too. This body style was only made in 1978 and 1979 to compete with the Dodge Ramcharger and Chevrolet Blazer.
The paint looks fantastic on this example. Ford sold 77,917 Broncos in 1978 and 104,038 Broncos in 1979. If this is your dream ride, get out your checkbook because a number of other enthusiasts feel the same way and are bidding this truck up daily. What do you think it will sell for?
It already surpassed what I would’ve thought it would fetch. I do really like these Bronco though. Never would’ve thought $30+k for them would happen to be.
Bruce, I agree, “who knew.” I always liked these but never thought they would become collectible.
I would love to have a truck like this one. But it’s about as far over my budget as it could get. But then, with some of the Broncos of this vintage, if you bought them and fixed them up you would probably have that much invested anyway. My brother had a ’78 Bronco and he loved it. His was powered by a 400 but it still took him from A to B without complaint. My second boy had one that was fairly rough. I thought about taking it over as a project but he sold it to one of his friends who sold it to another friend, and so on and so forth. My oldest boy got my ’85 Bronco that met with an uncertain fate as well. One of these days when this COVID crap is over…
there is another 1978 that just listed on ebay and it is already at $35,000!
I have had 4 of these, great trucks , all had a 351 or 400 m or modified, I wonder if the Cleveland had more hp? My last one sold to African safari company, shipped to Africa the top came off and they liked that
I once owed a very similar F250 4×4.
Bought it from a good friend of mine who was the original owner (he special ordered it from the factory).
It was factory red, with zero dents & zero rust. A rare find at the time as it was already 20+ years old.
I drove that beast from his home in Scottsdale AZ to my home in Wichita KS, & then down to Little Rock AR when I moved there a few months later. I wasn’t in Little Rock 1 month before some A-hole STOLE IT one night from right outside my bedroom window. (…literally 20 feet away from where I was sleeping!) I never saw it again.
It was fully insured, so I got some money from my insurance company, but certainly nothing close to what it was really worth. :-(
….
In hindsight, they might have done me a small favor as that 10mpg fuel consumption was a pretty costly bill to pay whenever I visited the gas pumps!
:-P
I had one of these , it had a bench seat in the front , 351 two tone blue and the back windows slid open , was a good vehicle , the tin worm got to it upstate NY !
Reserve is still not met, that price seems very high for this truck, shrill bidding ?
I always like the first gen. Broncos the most ( and their prices are just stupid) but of all the full size Broncos this would be the one I would pick (78-79). But come on 30 grand + for one of these are we in the real world? I always think what do the big spenders do with something like this, you drive it around town and people look at and think ” nice old Bronco” but really no one is going to go crazy over it, then you tell them you paid 30,000 for it and whey would want to lock you up in a mental ward.
This Bronco looks in amazing condition but I follow this eBay seller and all he sells are Broncos and none are cheap! I don’t know where he sources them all but he scoops up a lot of nice examples.I contacted him once in the past about one of his other auctions and when questioning the price he wasn’t too nice about it.He’s basically a Bronco flipper so if you buy one of his your going to pay a premium for it no question.
Low mileage,perfect condition,deep pockets, and big garage,this Bronco will most likely be parked in the hopes of fetching even more in the future!