FEATURE
! H O C N O R B A shiny, fuel-injected, vintage Bronco built for beach cruising By Joshua Elzey editor@fourwheeler.com Photos: Joshua Elzey
J
im Dunaway of Bayberry Vintage Autos in Hampton, New Hampshire, was approached by repeat customer Michelle Lemay, who had an interest in Ford’s new Bronco. She liked that the new Bronco was incorporating many iconic styling cues from the SUV’s heyday and she was highly anticipating the arrival of her preordered Bronco. But Michelle was itching for something to drive while waiting for her Bronco to arrive. Jim suggested finding an older, vintage Bronco and restoring it while she waited. Michelle thought that was a great idea. Hearing about the hunt for a vintage Bronco, a shop that Jim had worked with in the past called and informed him of a ’73 Bronco that was available. The Bronco appeared to be a decent older restoration that just needed paint and a tickle to bring it back to life. So, the Bronco was purchased and stripped down. The frame was verified as solid. However, it was discovered that the body tub had previously been restored to a subpar level. It was decided that replacing the body tub would be more cost effective so a new body tub with stamped fenders was purchased from Rust Belt Broncos. The intent to use high-gloss black paint on Michelle’s Bronco meant the bodywork had to be perfect. Michelle loves over-the-top builds, so even though this was going to be a more in-depth project than originally planned, it provided the opportunity to set this vintage project apart from the rest. A lot of research went into the style and modifications for the Bronco to create something authentic with modern cues blended in to create a clean and simple machine that exhibited a “less is more” philosophy. During the build, Michelle visited Bayberry Vintage Autos often to go over ideas, which she and Jim would jointly agree upon how to implement and proceed. Michelle has an eye for design involving color and overall theme that helped make perfect out-of-the-box choices. At one point, Jim asked Michelle if she wanted a lift under the Bronco only to get the response, “How tall can we go?” In the end, a 3.5-inch lift from Toms Offroad was used along with Bilstein shocks. Michelle chose the fourwheeler.com
