Worst cars of the '80s from Ford!

Comments · 544

• LA

  @lab1042 · 2 years ago · pinned

  Friend of mine rolled a Bronco II, I was in the passenger seat.  Car pulled out in front of us on a 55 mph country road. He hit the brakes and steered to the right.  We slid into the grass shoulder which caught the tires and flipped us over completely, landing back on the wheels.  Thankfully we were both wearing seatbelts and we walked away without a scratch.  After we got back to his house (his mom picked us up - Bronco was obviously trashed) we ordered pizza and drank beer.

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• ME

  @metaloverdose · 2 years ago

  My parents bought a brand new Bronco II in 1987. I drove it a lot as a teenage and then I owned it for a while when I was 20. It was a great vehicle that was driven by 3 generations in my family. Would love to get my hands on it again and restomod it.

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• AD

  @adam_britton · 2 years ago

  My grandfather had a couple Perkins Rangers on the farm.  By the mid 90’s he had found two or three to use as parts cars.  They really were super slow, but he put somewhere close to 400k miles on that Ranger before it rusted out.

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• MI

  @miguelescobedo2837 · 2 years ago

  I bought a new Bronco II in 1986 and loved it. Gave it to my Dad who drove it almost the ground. It eventually found its way to rural Mexico, where it may still be running around.

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• CH

  @christopherconard2831 · 2 years ago

  The police in my old home town used propane powered cars. Another advantage for engines that run on natural gas is the oil stays cleaner for much longer. This makes a difference when your fleet alternates between stop and go driving with long periods of idling.

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• BO

  @boostpack609 · 2 years ago

  Seeing a boxy ranger hurts a bit those rigs are hard to kill man the 2.3 iron block with the 3 speed auto is a dangerous combo of reliability and fuel efficiency

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• PC

  @pcno2832 · 2 years ago

  <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPBjDomzppo&amp;t=755">12:35</a> The sight of that rearview mirror aimed at the roof made me think of the late 1970s when I used to work with this 90+ year-old guy who drove a Mercury Bobcat. One evening, he gave me a ride home and he crawled along at 15 MPH all the way. By the end of the trip (he lived around the corner from me) he was leading something that looked like a funeral procession and he had practically snapped the mirror off trying to divert the light from all of those high beams. After that, I found other means of transportation when my car was in the shop.

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• AL

  @AlvisHerren · 2 years ago

  My dad had an 87 Ranger with the 2.3 turbo diesel and he loved the excellent fuel economy. He got it in 1996. I enjoyed driving it around too.

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• MA

  @Masterplan15 · 2 years ago

  Ford also made propane powered Crown Vic Police cars in the 90&apos;s. They quit when they realized they might explode from a rear end collision. Some of them did.

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• DO

  @Doc1855 · 2 years ago

  When the Ranger first came out in the 80s with the 2.3L timing belt engine, they were bulletproof.<br>If you changed the oil and didn’t abuse it, they could easily go 350K miles. &nbsp;<br><br>The Bronco II was a great idea, but they were top heavy and had a tendency to roll.

  6

• DE

  @devonmask5192 · 2 years ago

  The Bronco II was definitely polarizing at the time. Those who went off road or through a lot of snow loved them and held onto them as long as possible. Those new to small 4x4&apos;s had a learning curve. Some figured it out, some didn&apos;t. In truth, the lil&apos; Bronc was no worse than a Jeep CJ5, International Scout II, The Samurai or the original rollover champ, the original Bronco (yes, the present auction darling was, at the time, seen as a notorious rustbucket that cleared loose oxidation by rolling over). Granted, the Cherokee and S10 were wider and less prone to rollovers, but off road, a well-setup Bronco could only be matched by an equally prepped a Cherokee. The S10 was more road oriented.

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• TH

  @Thomas-rk4rl · 2 years ago

  In a way, Ford did end up succeeding with propane! &nbsp;Ford Australia offered it as a factory option in Australia on the Falcon, where propane (LPG as it&apos;s called here) was/is a lot more popular. &nbsp;It was quite popular with fleets and taxis, as they were doing a lot of kilometers and that made it worth it. &nbsp;LPG only really died here with the end of local car production, as there weren&apos;t any new factory LPG models and a lot of the supporting industries went bust too.

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