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Fabulous Fords Forever this year was awesome!
If you've never been, I highly recommend it. I've been going for 10 years now and this year was
especially fun. Check out all the pictures and see what transpired.
This first shot
is the line in to the show. It wraps almost all the way around a city block. Crowds of people pile
up to preview the cars as they enter. |
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This year we were on special display on the lawn. It's a great honor
to have your car chosen for this year. Since the Bronco was turning 40 this year, they wanted nice examples
of all the styles of Bronco on special display. Along with my '71 Baja were a '66 roadster, a topless 67 Sport wagon, 71 halfcab, the former KbarS Balloon Chaser,
the Pikes' Class 3 Baja Bronco and Parnelli Jones' legendary Big Oly among others. |
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This 67 Sport made the trek down from northern California. This truck
has been very carefully restored; the body is spotless and the paint is near perfect. Its body is all stock right down to the
details unique to the '67 Sport. |
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About this time, even though it's early, we have
to go across the street for breakfast because there's a long day ahead. Most people go to IHOP
or McDonalds, but the real sweet spot for breakfast is Britto II Taqueria; excellent breakfast
burritos. Get the green salsa. |
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Speaking of green - I really liked this wagon. A nice lifted truck,
in an awesome shade of green. Well, we liked it, but some were on the fence. His security system hanging in his hardtop window
told us not to get to close. Next year we are going to bring our fireplace poker. |
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By mid-morning there was a nice field of Broncos
across the parking lot on the lawn. |
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Back there was a nice little row of Bajas starting
to gather. There were 3 in a row, with a 4th look-a-like Baja. Across from them was a Baja
someone had painted yellow! |
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A couple rows away sat Augy Saucedo's '73
Baja Bronco. This is one of the baddest Bajas out there. Very original in the body department,
but lifted some 6 or so inches and running 37" tires on polished slot mags. It also has a neat
Beard bench seat up front. |
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Back in the row of Bajas sat the '74 Baja of
Pat Crawford and Dane Partridge. This one was all stock, and original. Not only original as in "unmodified", but
original as in unrestored too! It's an unrestored survivor Baja that Pat's father bought brand new. It's been extremely
well cared for and preserved. It has a ton of "paint OK" stamps and mechanic notation stickers
under the hood. Probably the nicest survivor Baja we've seen. |
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Before I get too involved in pouring over details
about the Broncos, I like to walk around and check out the other Fords. This T-bird looked
super clean; the kind of car you could cruise around in on a daily basis. |
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This ultra-rare Mercury M-100 pickup is
as clean as ever. It's not stock tho: has a 428 CJ motor! It's identical to our parts chaser
'65 M-100 only this one is nice, not a rusted hulk! |
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I tend to like original unrestored cars as
you will probably notice. This 68 Torino Cobra was awesome. Looked maybe 10 years old. These
cars were really stock looking but could clean clocks on most other cars cruising around back then. |
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Of course I had a favorite Mercury this year. Since there were
no Meteors like my daily '62, showed up, this yellow Montego GT had to be it. I'd take this over
a Starsky and Hutch Torino anyday. Tho...if Kojak's gold Regal was there, it'd be a tough choice. |
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On my way back to my Baja to sit for a while, I
found a couple of fellow Baja owners hanging out. Since their Bajas weren't there, we poked around
my Baja and talked details. It's always fun to meet you guys in person and talk Bronco. |
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Doing some chattin' himself was the sole representative from
Wild Horses, Mark B. He's always got catalogs galore and the tunes bumpin' from his nicely optioned '73 Baja. Mark is hardcore
like us and drove his Baja to the show. |
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Mike brought his '74 Baja to the show too. This one is
really neat: original paint, Jackman wheels, OG blue and yellow plates, and the original white Sport rubber mat. Some previous
owners have changed things here and there, it's pretty stock. The original Cactus Smasher has the perfect
amount of petina: Tons! Looks bitchin'. |
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While there were some very nice uncut Broncos in the
special display area, there was also a nice row of uncuts in the main Bronco area. This Vista Orange
'77 with the Sport stripe was a favorite of ours. |
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Back in the special display area, our '71
Baja was looking good. The new tire cover rounded out the rear nicely and the NOS Sport trim
we just installed was shinin'. |
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The powers that choose the Most Outstanding
Truck award, aka The Bill Stroppe Memorial Trophy, also thought my Baja was looking great. When
the winners were announced, they called my name!!! |
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It was a very exciting and a great honor to
receive the award from Willie Stroppe and Parnelli Jones. They both spent lots of time looking over the
Broncos and talking to their admirers and getting photos taken next to the Broncos. |
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After a day at the show, this guy had a good
plan! We met lots of good folks and had a great time seeing the nicest Fords in the country. Check
back later for more photos from the show - we'll be updating this page over the next couple weeks before the
40th Bronco anniversary near Apple Valley, CA! |
