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FORD BRONCO OWNED BY JAY LENO HAS MUSTANG GT500 ENGINE: VIDEO

This Bronco Kicks Like It’s The Biggest Horse On The Ranch

Ford Bronco

It’s not everyday that a friend gives you an incredibly valuable classic car, but then again none of us live the life of Jay Leno. This 1968 Ford Bronco SUV was actually a jokey gift from fellow late-night TV host Craig Ferguson, left in Leno’s parking spot before his show’s final taping. Ferguson likely just thought that it was some old Ford that would be more of an annoyance than anything, unaware of the legendary status of these early Bronco examples. The off-roader sat as it was for a few years in Leno’s garage, awaiting a proper restoration. Ford Performance and SEMA Garage came together with Jay Leno and tons of other builders earlier this year to collaborate on that very restoration. The results are rather stunning.

This project had no intentions of bringing the Bronco back to its stock glory, because well that isn’t very SEMA Show appropriate at all. Instead, this project began from the ground up thanks to a custom chassis and suspension set-up installed by Kincer Chassis. Dennis Carpenter Ford Restoration Parts made sure the builders had all the replacement body panels needed, with LGE-CTS Motorsports handling the custom body work, spraying the “Tonight Blue” Envirobase paint supplied by PPG Industries, and final assembly. The team at SEMA Garage even lent their knowledge of computer-aided design, calibration work and 3D printing to help finish up the looks of this reborn Ford Bronco.

Kincer Chassis was also responsible for fitting this off-roader with its modern powertrain: the supercharged 5.2L V8 from the Mustang Shelby GT500 mated to a Tremec TR-4050 5-speed manual transmission fitted with an STX shifter assembly. While Ford have decided that GT500 owners don’t want to row their own gears, we love the fact that this engine has found itself mated to a stick shift so quickly, in a truck no less. Other performance modification highlights include an Advance Adapters Atlas II transfer case, Vibrant Performance exhaust components finished with Borla mufflers, Wilwood disc brakes at all four corners, Fox 2.0 factory race series coil-over shocks and 18 x 9-inch John R wheels by Detroit Steel Wheels wrapped in BFGoodrich Rugged Trail T/A rubber.

After SEMA 2019, the 1968 Bronco will be featured on an upcoming episode of Jay Leno’s Garage on CNBC as well as the Jay Leno’s Garage YouTube channel.

Written by Lucas Bell

Lucas holds a journalism degree from Wayne State University, and is a Automotive Press Association scholarship recipient. While an American muscle fan through and through, he once wrote a fascinating comparison review about eScooters.

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