Return of the Retro Bronco - Nearly Four Years After We started, our beloved project bronco finally crosses the finish line - Competition - Racing and Rock Crawling
Originally, Project Retro Bronco was a simple buildup where Dirt Sports modernized the 82 Bronco without breaking the bank
(above). Now, the Bronco is a stunning vehicle worthy of being called a Masterpiece in Metal.
If anything, nobody in the off-road or publishing world can accuse us of being lazy, short sighted or unwilling to take on
the big challenges. And, there is no other testament to this magazine's spirit than the absolutely incredible Ford Bronco
pre-runner you see before you.
Owned by off-road veteran Ron DeWolf and fabricated by Ruben Arzate, John Evans, Bejay Magnuson and Andy Petersen of Speed
Unlimited in Paramount, California, this mind-blowing Dirt Sports project vehicle was born on the pages of our December 2004 issue. Since then, this storyline has been one of the most popular
features Dirt Sports has ever published. Thanks to the drive and passion of everyone involved, Project Retro Bronco has morphed and evolved into
what arguably is the nicest four-wheel drive Bronco we've ever seen.
Long-time readers may remember the Retro Bronco started life as a simple premise of taking an older utility off-roader and
giving it some modern updates with little money and time. Long-time Baja off-road racer, DeWolf, of Long Beach, California,
had just the vehicle we were looking for. Purchased for just over $20,000 before 2004's SCORE Baja 1000, DeWolf's 1982 Ford
Bronco had three seats, was fully caged and, unlike many pre-runners of today, was four-wheel drive. It was also in need of
wiring, shock updating and some long-overdue TLC.
As we said, that was a long time and many shop hours ago. After enduring lots of starts and stops with several flakey shops
that shall be unnamed, DeWolf's Bronco finally found a home with Arzate and his new Speed Unlimited shop. Wanting to expand
his reputation in the off-road industry by building a true rolling showcase, Arzate, his crew and DeWolf threw out conventional
wisdom (and our story's original concept) by taking the tired Bronco to the highest level possible – and then some.
The road to Boyd Jaynes' Masterpiece in Metal studio has been a long and expensive one. Only the cab, doors and a few interior
roll cage bars remain of the original Bronco, and from the Speed Unlimited shop has emerged a longer, wider and fully maxed-out
new Ford Bronco that simply shatters the gold standard for magazine project builds.
Thanks to DeWolf, Speed Unlimited and a host of very special (and very patient) Retro Bronco suppliers and sponsors, it is
our very special honor to finally present this completed Dirt Sports project.
The custom one-piece front end is another contribution from Fiberwerx and is a modification that incorporates the flowing
bulges of widened front fenders and a custom grill. The Bronco's widened stance is obvious from this view, as is the fully
integrated roll cage.
A lifelong enthusiast of off-road motorsports, Marty Fiolka raced his first SCORE Baja 1000 in 1992. A graduate of the California University at Long Beach, he formed the Rennsport Marketing Group in 1995 and executed public relations programs for Nissan, Infiniti, Exxon, Mitsubishi, and SCORE International. Now an eight-time Baja 1000 competitor and desert racing veteran, Fiolka is the associate producer of Dana Brown's Baja documentary, Dust to Glory, the author of the recently released coffee-table Baja 1000 history book 1000 Miles to Glory.
Articles by Marty Fiolka
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