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Restoring a classic Ford Bronco isn’t the hardest thing in the world. After all, the SUV has been around for half a century; there are plenty of places to find parts to replace any rotting ones left on your vintage machine. Making it better than new, however, takes a certain skill, one found in the rare hands of people like Icon 4×4’s Jonathan Ward and a handful of others.
If you’re noted car guy and TV host Jay Leno, though, you can apparently go right to the source and bring your vintage Bronco straight to Ford.
“The Bronco was bought to use on the farm or to take your date to the prom and was comfortable in any of these environments,” Leno said, according to a Ford press release. “The idea of having a classic Bronco upgraded with modern handling, performance and braking really makes it the best of both worlds.”
The blue beauty of a Bronco seen here was given to Leno as a joke by his fellow comedian and late night host Craig Ferguson as a joke years ago, when it was in far worse shape. According to Ford, it sat derelict in Jay Leno’s garage for years, until the crew from Ford Performance finally convinced the comic to let them take a crack at it making it better than new.
It may look nearly stock on the outside, but beneath that skin lie all sorts of modern-day improvements. The heart of this restomod is the supercharged V8 found in the 2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500; Ford doesn’t say how much power it makes here, but we’re betting it’s close to that model’s 760 ponies. That power runs through a five-speed manual transmission and a low-range transfer case to all four wheels. Fox shocks, Wilwood brakes, Borla mufflers and BFGoodrich Rugged Trail T/A tires all add to the off-roader’s prowess.
The list of mods and changes is far more comprehensive than that, so if you’re already lusting after this Bronco, we highly suggest clicking the “Learn More: Here” link below. But if you just want to stare at the pictures above, well, we get that too. It’ll eventually be featured on the Jay Leno’s Garage TV show and YouTube channel, so you’ll soon be able to get all the restomodded Bronco you can handle.
