Never mind what’s hidden in that garage, we’re here to check out this nice 1978 Ford Bronco Ranger XLT! Second-generation Chargers are a dime-a-dozen, but second-generation Ford Broncos are much better and more useful. Who’s with me?! One hand, that’s it? The seller has this nice example listed here on eBay in Las Vegas, Nevada and the current bid price is $6,600, but the reserve isn’t met.
We’ve seen a few of what I refer to as the “round Broncos” lately and this looks like another very nice one. Ford offered the first big Broncos in the second generation for just two model years: 1978 and 1979. This example, being a top-trim Ranger XLT, has rectangular headlights. The Custom came with round headlights, which I really like, but it’s hard to beat a Ranger XLT for interior comfort.
The “Combination Tu-Tone” Dark Brown and Wimbledon White look great here with the white “painted styled steel” wheels. There’s a reason it looks so good, the seller says that it’s originally from Arizona and it’s been repainted at some point. They say that it’s rust-free and those are the two best words, in my opinion, when it comes to vintage vehicles. Hagerty is at $15,400 for a #4 fair-condition Bronco and believe it or not, it jumps up to a whopping $43,300 for a #3 good Bronco, wowie!
The underside looks rock solid, and the interior looks much nicer than I thought it would, being an Arizona truck now living in Las Vegas and having lived with relentless dry heat several months a year for over four decades. The carpet is said to be new and the cloth and vinyl seats appear to be in really nice condition other than the vinyl, but that’s the easy part to replace. SMS lists new seat covers, but it says “product samples only” so I’m not positive if they still have them or not. The back seat looks good but is showing some wear. Any upholstery shop can redo the vinyl on the front seats.
While there is no VIN listed, the seller says that this is a Ford 400-cu.in. OHV V8, and by 1978, it put out 150 horsepower and 277 lb-ft of torque. It sends power through a transfer case to a Cruise-O-Matic transmission and then to all four wheels as needed. The carb has been rebuilt and they say that this is a good driver-quality Bronco, not a show truck. It looks great to me, I’d love to own this one, maybe even more than the Charger in the garage.
Another nice 78-79 Bronco. The white wheels look right at home with the brown/white two-tone. New upholstery and some underhood detailing would improve the presentation. This generation of Bronco has really picked up collector interest in recent years. We all have our favorites; since Scotty asked, I’ll raise my hand, since I prefer this Bronco over the Charger in the garage.
Good job Scotty.
You’re too kind, Bob, thanks. We may be the only two in the Bronco camp for Bronco vs. Charger.
You can make that a wholeheartedly 3 in your camp. ( Or a Blazer if its right lol).
I also agree with Bob, love the white wagon wheels on this Bronco, it just looks right. I was in grade school when this body style came out, I remember a kid I went to school with, their Dad bought one, it was black and silver, had a huge lift kit on it and huge oversized tires, that really made an impression on a 9 year old kid. This would look great with an interior redo.
I’m with you guys. You can’t tool around the national forests with your top off in a Charger. Well, I guess maybe you can…but it doesn’t seem quite as right and it might not mean exactly the same thing.
I love the colors. Good old doo doo brown is a favorite of mine. My wife gives me grief for it. “What color should we paint the kitchen? Don’t say doo doo brown.”
I love those old white spoke wheels too. Those were the first thing added on four wheel drives when I was growing up (if they weren’t there from the factory). They’re about due for a comeback – the trend towards black wheels is kind of fading, I think (hope).
As for the Bronco itself, I wonder how great it looked before the repaint and the new wheels? I’m thinking not terrible, but not great – just “fair”. I figure the shine they put on it is going to push the price up, but you still have “fair” condition for the seats and carpet, non working AC, etc. Realistically, I’d want to be in it for around 10 grand because you’ll wind up putting some work into it if you want to get it really nice, but I don’t think that is a realistic price any more (sadly).
I’m there with you guys as well – I’m a Bronco guy.
I would take the bronco over the second gin charger
Bronco for me also.
We have 2 ’78 Broncos in our family.
Son’s ’78 is one of one produced.
We will be restoring my yellow ’78 soon. Looks like like it is a very low
production also; waiting for Marty report.
That 400 engine in a 4 wheel drive will drink gas like a 440 in a charger so it’s a toss up there. Do you like fast driving with smokey burnouts ? Or prefer sure footed AWD ? I use to think FWD stood for four wheel drive if you remember the old truck company from Wisconsin but now days that’s front wheel drive which is all but a few cars.
In Vegas with no a/c, hoses cut at compressor. Also the top radiator hose looks wrong, pinched at curve. Does look nice though
That’s what caught my eye too – the kinked top hose.
I very much regret selling my ’79 Bronco six years ago for money to work on my ’67 Fairlane convertible. I regret it because I had redone it about 10 years before, engine strong, R12 blew icy cold and it handled great on 32″ tires. In fact it was a show vehicle. I sold it for $6k and today in the same condition it would go for $70k+! True, it loved its gas and It remains one that I wish I never sold!
I kindly disagree with the “dime a dozen” assessment of the 2nd-gen Charger, even basket cases are selling for much more than “a dime”! Anyway, 2nd gen Broncos are riding the same wave of respect that the first gen has been enjoying and I definitely wouldn’t mind having this in my garage. Like the ’86 Blazer mentioned earlier, enjoy (and not abuse) it now, restore it later.
I was kidding about that, Dan, I hoped that everyone would know that. I looked up Hagerty values on those Chargers and the Bronco is actually more “valuable” than a few models of the Charger! That surprised me. Of course, once you get into the 383 and bigger engines, they leave the Bronco in the dust.
I love these older Broncos and they are rare around where I live . This one seems to be in very good condition and it should sell soon no problem……but my eye keeps going to that Charger tucked away in the garage. Cmon lets just have a little peek at it too !
I’ve followed this seller for years, he used to sell a lot of GM and Mopar 60’s-70’s era two doors, including a lot of Chargers. Over time he started selling less of those and more Blazer’s, Bronco’s as well as late-70’s and 80’s F-body’s. His eBay listing have been featured on this site countless times, often several a month. Geography is important, but someone can’t find that many cars over such a extended period of time without putting in the work. This is also the case for many other sellers that have also had multiple cars listed on this site.
Steve R
Don’t forget the Eddie Bauer version. The captains chairs were soft as velvet in those.
The Eddie Bauer package was not available until sometime in the 1980s.
1985, to be exact.
Camaro in the garage also
Oh yeah, I missed that! And a Monte Carlo behind it! This gent has a very cool collection.
Watch for them in upcoming auctions.
Steve R
It bugs me that the charger is being used as a storage shelf.
Auction update: this one ended at $19,100 and the reserve wasn’t met. There was a $23,500 buy-it-now price towards the end so it was fairly close.