The Bronco

At her new home

I jumped on my phone for a moment while production stopped late in the evening one night at the distillery. I browsed on the local community Facebook page, 'One Man's Junk', always on the look out for a bargain of any kind. Then I stumbled upon, only posted minutes earlier, a 1989 Ford Bronco II. What followed was a quick message to pop over and take a look the following morning and once I got home, a quick mention of my intentions to a sleeping Amy. 

The key to scoring the bargains are get in quick. Thats it, and thats what I did. I was the first person to message and right there first thing in the morning. The deal was easy to make as the truck was a little old gem and the price was beyond right. There I was, the proud owner of a piece of 1980's American motoring. Beige-on-brown exterior, with only a touch of surface rust with an all over beige interior, in good condition, with that perfect old musty car smell, five speed manuel, with rear wheel drive/4x4 and 4x4 low modes and coming with a spare set of snow tires too! All of this coming for a very, very reasonable three digit price tag, supplemented with a bottle of bourbon. 

Learning the ins and outs of an older vehicle is critical to appreciating an old cheap car. So over the first few weeks, there were moments of frustration wondering what the hell was going on, but all these quirks now just add to the character. However, it was frustrating trying to work out why the heater and indicators would only sporadically work and driving down the highway while the car felt as though it was going to shake itself apart. No dramas, its all about how you turn the key and what mode the 4x4 is in. One day, while the weather was mild, I also did a bit of rust cutting on the rust on the passenger door. A wire wheel brush on the drill, a bit of bog filler and a sand back and now we have a nice grey primer patch rather than rust. Just need some more warm weather to do the color match paint and she'll be golden, well beige I guess.

Most of the way up Loveland Pass.