If you’ve been wanting a mostly original Ford Bronco, this might be just the one. The seller claims it has 39,000 original miles and was purchased new in 1979 from Bill Lasky Ford in Milon, Michigan. Currently located in Tonka Bay, Minnesota, it can be found here on craigslist with an unmentioned asking price. Unfortunately, the photos in the ad aren’t as good as they could be but we can piece together that this is a pretty nice ride. The slotted mag wheels are period correct and work well with the Raven Black paint and “Free Wheeling” graphics. Check it out for yourself.
The engine is a 351M that breathes through the new exhaust. The seller doesn’t say how it runs, but based on the suspension maintenance that has been done, hopefully, the same attention has been paid to the drive train. As mentioned, the suspension has been gone through with the following being addressed: New leveling kit, radius arm, spring retainers, bushings, sway bar, steering damper, and drag link.
Unfortunately, there aren’t too many good photos of the interior. Here you can see the driver’s door panel is in great shape. There is one photo of the cargo area and it looks good as well. The red interior is really striking against the black exterior. Hopefully, the seller will provide some more photos for serious buyers. I’m not sure what the asking price is, but with vintage Broncos continuing to go up, this one is probably going to be costly. What do you think is a fair price range for this ’79?
Those were far more family-friendly than the first generation Broncos. With the four front shock option and white wagon wheels they filled many a Pittsburgh driveway. The ones that didn’t wear out rusted away. This example will probably go for well over 20 grand.
Nice truck. Whenever I hear “Free Wheelin”, I think of “Free Wheelin’ Franklin”, one of the Freak Brothers. Guess that kind of dates me, and not sure that was Ford’s intention, but I had a 1980,and was a breath of fresh air from the miserable S-10 Blazer it replaced. While spec’d poorly, ( 300/ carb. 6, non O/D automatic, 4:11 gears) It was great because my ex-wife couldn’t kill it. It, aside from my semis, has the record of the worst gas mileage of any vehicle I owned. 8-10 on dry roads, maybe 6 with everything spinning. It was worth it, though, gas was cheap, went through snow great, and I lived in a rural setting, dynamite heater, lots of room, I felt my family was safe, and got them home in the worst weather. What’s that worth? It was a great truck. This one going to cost the next owner plenty, just because, while designed for the snow, like all, they rusted terribly. Nice to see one like this again. Today? This gonna cost you plenty of these, ,$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$,,otherwise, they’d say a price.
Barn Finds, those are NOT ‘free wheelin stripes’. Those are ‘chromatic’ stripes that were optional on any bronco (including those broncos optioned with the free wheelin package). ‘Free wheelin’ stripes were 3 solid stripes that came with the free wheeling package.
those stripes are called Chromatic stripes not free wheelin stripes.
Free wheeling stripes were three solid stripes available in different color combos.
My dad had a 1979 Ford PU with the same front end styling. I just didn’t dig that generation. I didn’t think Ford put much effort into that style. I preferred the next gen big Broncos for styling
Very clean. Will go for a decent amount of money. Sad that the A/C compressor has been removed, and no mention in the ad if it is included in the sale. Aftermarket aluminum radiator must be the smallest they could find to fit. My ’79 Bronco has the maximum cooling option, which includes a three row, 26 inch tall core radiator. Same one used in the F-250/350 trucks with 460 engines and max. cooling. The entire top tank sits above the radiator support, and makes the unit in this one look tiny. Great vehicles. Fun to drive and last forever without costing an arm and a leg to maintain. New owner will be elated with it.