People love to discuss what the most famous car in the world is. Some say it’s the Batmobile. Others feel that the Dukes of Hazzard General Lee Charger is the one. Starsky & Hutch fans pull for the iconic red and white Torino, while other Ford fans would say “Eleanor.” There are several “movie cars” in the collection at Maxmotive. Here you’ll find some of the stars of the Fast & Furious series, a cool 1970 Super Bee from the Spike Lee film “25th Hour,” and yes, one of the original on-camera Gran Torinos from Starsky & Hutch. This is actually a cool hot rod with a souped up 429 Ford big block. All the lights and sirens, and the Motorola police radio are fully functional. It’s a fun car! Just recently, one of our vehicles went the other way. It came from the collection to go to Hollywood and become world famous. Here’s the story.
There’s a lot of excitement in the automotive world about the new Ford Bronco. One reason is there’s a lot of excitement among car crazies about the old Ford Bronco. In 1966 Ford made a bold move to compete with Jeep and the International Scout, both practically iconic off-road vehicles. The Ford Bronco was unlike any other Ford at the time, characterized by its simple, purposeful design. And Ford did what they did with most of their vehicles when they wanted to generate excitement, they went racing! This little 4×4 was not destined for the dragstrip like the Mustang, or the NASCAR oval like the Torino. No, the race for the Bronco to conquer was none other than the Baja 1000. That’s right, a grueling endurance marathon through the desert in Mexico. Ford commissioned the construction of “Big Oly” and star power came with Indy legend Parnelli Jones. The combination was good enough for a victory, and Big Oly became the template for hot rod Broncos forever after. In fact, there was this sweet 1966 Bronco in our showroom. It was a mean one, Mr. Grinch. It had giant off road tires on cool aluminum wheels, a full roll cage, headers with a raucous exhaust system, and a fuel cell in place of a back seat. And it was red and white just like Big Oly. When the folks at Ford were ready to introduce their new Bronco, they wanted a classic Bronco to represent the truck’s storied heritage. They searched far and wide until they came upon the very vehicle I just described. They came with a big truck and whisked it out west for its role in the new Bronco TV commercial. With a little “makeup,” they made her look even more like Big Oly. You can find out more about the Maxmotive ‘66 Bronco on the “Sold Vehicle” pages at Maxmotive.com. There’s even a video! It may not be the most famous car in the world yet, but when you see the new Ford Bronco ad you’ll see the ’66 standing tall and you can say, “I know where that came from!”
by Bobby Martin
