This 1966 Ford Bronco is one of the rarest body styles known to exist, and a scant amount remain on the road today. Unique for their removable doors, roof, and resemblance to a surfing enthusiast’s beach buggy, the U13 Broncos are believed to number around 200 or less, with some sources saying fewer than 150 remain registered. Of course, originality will always play a role in assessing value, and the fact that this Bronco hasn’t been resto-modded makes it even more desirable. Find it here on craigslist for $20,000 in California.
The seller provides the background of this example, which has to be the stuff that Bronco enthusiasts dream of. Ordered new by a Ford dealership employee, it remained in his care for years before his passing in the early 80s. The Bronco then went to a close friend, who also cherished it and then embarked on a restoration. The U13 was partially disassembled before his health took a turn and the restoration stalled. The Bronco sat untouched for years, and seemingly most, if not all, of the original parts remain largely accounted for. The Bronco was ordered new with front bucket seat, rear bench seat, soft top, and hard doors.
In ordering it this way, the original owner ensured he could use this Bronco with maximum functionality. Keep the doors and hard top on, and it was as practical as any other Bronco. Remove the top and the doors and it became the ultimate sidekick for outdoor activities or navigating by the stars while searching for an elusive campsite on the California coast. Fortunately, it doesn’t look like the Bronco was banged up for extensive off-road use, even if the engine bay is in desperate need of a cleaning. The Bronco is equipped with the 170 CID six-cylinder engine which the seller claims was running when parked. Although not running currently, it appears to be intact.
The seller notes that many of the needed parts for restoration appear to be included. This includes the bucket seats, rear bench, hard and soft doors, windshield (which can lay flat, for a truly open air ride), various trim, interior pieces like the steering wheel, and more. More importantly, the seller is confident the Bronco is largely solid, with no major areas of rot to fix other than some rust in the floors and cargo area which are still described as solid but in need of some work. Of course, this Bronco remains uncut, as the most original ones do. I’m sure given the rarity and desirability of unmodifed Broncos, this one will find a home soon. Thanks to Barn Finds reader Ikey H. for the find.
The one of 200 number is bunk. The door inserts are backwards!
Yes, 1 of 200 is total BS. I do have one 66 U13. Ofcourse, its rare to spot U13 when compared to excessive U15s’ but not like in 200s :))
Yeah…really. At least mock it up right for you pics.
🤣
Cant stop laughing
https://www.hotcars.com/20-people-who-tried-modding-their-suvs-but-really-messed-up/
More fun stuff
Bizarre.
Once again, looks like someone spent a little too much time watching the Barrett-Jackson auction.
I saw BJ over the weekend and upped the value of all my cars by 20%.
BJ isn’t doing anyone any favors. Their business model is making sure prices go one direction – up. I seems to me you never hear them talk about any downward direction in general or in the market overall. It’s only the smaller shows like What’s My Car Worth and so on that give a more intellectually honest view.
Doesn’t “Hank Kimball”, Hooterville County Agent on “Green Acres” TV show, run around in a red one of these no-door model Bronco’s??
Funny show.
Yes – there were three of them on three different seasons of Green Acres. The ’67 season truck is allegedly in CA. The ’68 season truck was recently purchased by a Bronco collector in Alabama.
Well, in fairness, this article is not the only one that puts forward the “the U13 Broncos are believed to number around 200 or less, with some sources saying fewer than 150 remain registered.” notion.
In fact, that same point is made in almost exactly the same way in this online article – https://www.autoroundup.com/vehicle/the-rarity-of-a-true-1966-ford-bronco-article-1110.aspx
And this one – https://www.rkmotors.com/vehicles/600/1966-ford-bronco-u13 …which turns out to be the same vehicle as in the above link. If you search around, you can see that the phrase “By best estimates of the Bronco gurus figure there are less than 150 left today and with only 100 registered. Out of the 100, there is only 10-15 that are original or restored back to original like condition.” pops up in several other online articles about U13 Broncos.
As usual, why come up with your own words when someone else has said it before? At least that’s what I hear all the time from the students in my 10th grade English classes ;-)
Once again, original sources (in this case, actual owners such as rdxblast) save the day.
@Spud – yeah, it’s amazing how that stuff gets repeated often enough that people think it’s gospel. I wrote an online article about Broncos almost 25 years ago with some incorrect production numbers in it. For many years since, whenever I see those numbers quoted in an article, I know they copied mine :).
A good friend runs the roadsteru13.com registry and I believe he knows of between 200-300 of them, and we all know that’s not a complete list as more trucks are coming light nearly every day.
Yeah but he didn’t have his door inserts on backwards on the wrong side of the car
I’ll have a slight laugh when people wake up, find their common sense, and the bottom drops out of these.
Funny that the door inserts are backwards……doesn’t do much for sellers credibility. Maybe in the rush to set it up for pix he or she didn’t realize it. Hard to believe they are bolted into place..
On a practical issue…….could you restore this for 25 grand or so? I dont think so…………So………..
$20K and another $30K to make it nice to sell for $35K No Thanks !!!
$20,000 for a six cylinder bronco that needs close to total restoration!! Wow!! It’s really hard to believe it!!
don’t worry (if a hater) they dropped frm #1 to abt 25, 28th in sales-get this Fall. Now the chrysler surpasses @ #1 I think (3 wks ago).
I like ‘backwards’ inserts. It’s tough gettin in’n out. May B I’ll switch mine !
8^0
It is possible that since the second owner is now apparently deceased, the seller inherited the vehicle & might not be into cars. That being said, they may not realize the inserts are positioned incorrectly. They certainly don’t appear to be actually installed, but just set in place.
I question why they are selling it without certain accessories. They state in the ad, after showing pictures of all these parts, that certain ones are not included. For $20,000, I would think they should give up the whole vehicle.
This could really be a fun little runabout once restored.
It appears that the engine is at a rather peculiar angle.