1972 Tampico Yellow Kit Baja

After selling out daily driver '73 Baja to Dave in Virginia in 04, we've missed having a daily driver Baja. It seems most Bajas for sale are either too nice to drive daily or are rusted, rolled hulks. I feel most peoples pain of the lack of affordable Bajas. One idea I had was to get a cool original paint Bronco and put my cactus smasher, steering wheel, rollbar, and rims on it while I restore the 4speed.... but one day last July, I got a call from a guy in Utah with a yellow Bronco for sale.

What he claimed to have was a Baja Bronco that was not the standard orange, white, and blue. He told the story of his grandfather giving him this Bronco that was purchased from the original owner. It was still very original but oddly to him, it had the Baja by Stroppe decals, rollbar, trailer hitch, steering wheel(he hadn't noticed the foam under the vinyl cover), bumper braces, wide steel wheels, and dual shocks. So after he called Willie Stroppe, he called me to see if I was interested in it. It even has the foam still on the rollbar. Note the Armstrong Armaflex paintstamp that is usually worn off.

After more research by the last owner and myself, the original owner was found and we got the details. He bought it new off the existing lot stock at Pacific Ford in Long Beach, CA. His father had suggested he take it over to Bill Stroppe, whom the father knew for some reason or another, and get it outfitted for backcountry use. For around 950.00 (must have been a friend price), Bill added all the normal Baja equipment plus the Stroppe tow-bar, and C4 automatic transmission. Funny, I thought, as the truck has a 3speed on the column now. The original owner explained that going downhill in the snow, that the 3speed held the truck better so he brought it back to Stroppes for his 3speed to be reinstalled! Oh well... Here's a picture of the auto trans cooler brackets that were cut off when the 3speed went back in.

When it arrived, we found the interior was pretty gross. The original owner added house carpet, A/C, and painted the dash and door panels black in the mid 70s. Most of that has now been removed. I think I'll leave the dash black as well as the door panels. I removed the steering wheel cover and carpet and gun rack that was between the seats. The tiedowns on the fenders by the Baja decal are for holding the dead deer to the hood. I haven't come across any that needed a ride yet.

Another thing I did right away was remove the hubcaps and find the original chrome lug nuts and Wimbledon White 15x8 Stroppe steel wheels hiding behind them. Just the right amount of rust and patina. Tires were tube type still, so I got a new set of 10.50x31 Big O tires in their old style M/T to handle snow and mud duty while looking the part. Handles much better even with a bent tie rod from it's hunting days. The color is Tampico Yellow, one of my favorite shades of yellow, not unlike Springtime. Paint is all original, except left rear quarter where the 3rd gas tank filler was. It was removed by the original owner in the late 80s when he wanted more cargo space.

It's nice to be back behind a Stroppe Steering Wheel. The Stroppe modified Broncos are neat finds; some are full kits and others are Kit Bajas. If you have one, send me the info on it, including VIN and any history and documentation you have and I will start compiling a Registry for them. Thanks to the 3 of you that already have - it's underway!