meet bernadette the bronco

i’ve had her for a few months but when we took her out last weekend i thought it was time for a formal introduction. meet bernadette the bronco everyone! she’s a 1977 ford bronco in all her minty glory. i’d like to say i bought her on a whim but that is not the case she was pretty well sought out and hunted down. i’ll share more about that in a minute. but first things first.. she needs a little tlc before she gets completely safe and road ready.

i have to take her in to my friends at grand rapids classics  for a full review of the work she needs but when they helped me check her out before buying it she needs her fuel tank fixed, brakes adjusted, floor boards and a steering adjustment. she runs good but you never know what is hiding under the hood. of course she has some rust spots and cosmetic work to be done but i don’t plan on fixing her up over night. my plan is basic safety first, long term maintenance then cosmetic (paint touch up, upholstery fix, carpet etc)

i’ve had a few people express concern over the upcoming baby in the bronco. i know that babies are not like dogs and you can’t just put them in the back seat. this probably won’t be baby friendly for a while and if we do take jr. for a ride it will most likely be just on our farm property. this vehicle is going to be a long term fixer upper and a ride that i can drive to the store and back for fun. solo. maybe with my dogs. i promise.

so moving on how did i find her? well it’s kind of a long story. i had some “fun money” saved up and my friend matt was going to be selling a little vintage fiat that was the CUTEST thing you’ve ever seen. we thought long and hard about it, took it for a test drive and finally came to the conclusion it’s just not practical for us. we want something to cruise around in maybe take the dogs and there was no way we could fit butters in that tiny back seat. we passed but matt continued to help us search for the right vehicle. i really really really wanted a international scout but they are so hard to find not to mention the parts are even harder. i searched for months. that is when i saw a bronco at an auto show and they looked basically the same. the top comes off the same , same type of body style etc. so matt and the guys from grand rapids classics helped me track down this beauty. they went and inspected the engine and gave me a rough estimate of what it was going to cost me to fix it up in the short term and the long term. i’ll be honest with you this is about the 6th bronco we all looked at before deciding this was the one. to a gal that knows little to nothing about cars, they were a life saver. ps. they have one for sale in “mint” condition (i say that because it’s mint and also perfect)

for now until i save up some more fun money and get her into the shop she simply goes for little cruises around the lake by our house and up and down farm roads. i can’t wait to get her fixed up a bit and drive her to the store!