This 1973 Ford Bronco Went Through A 1,500-Hour Restomod

By Anthony Alaniz, Motor1.com

The Ford Bronco is hot right now with the Dearborn automaker preparing to bring back the popular nameplate. While fans hold tempered expectations, the new model will live up to the ruggedness of the original, restomoded and restored examples of previous Bronco models are making a fierce comeback. Take this 1973 Ford Bronco restomod from Velocity Restorations – it’s immaculate. And it should look like that considering the time spent restoring and improving this 1973 example.

Velocity Restorations took its time with the restoration, spending 1,500 hours restoring the SUV over a nine-month period. The painstaking care directed toward making sure everything was right is astounding.

“I’ve seen many restomodded Broncos built in 90 days or less and I could never understand how they are completed so quickly until I saw them up close,” says Brandon Segers, Co-Owner of Velocity Restorations. “To build a truly complete restomodded vehicle, you need to put an intense amount of work and man hours into it.  There are no shortcuts in this industry.”

The team spent 300 hours on rust repair and metal fabrication, tearing down the vehicle to the chassis and fixing any blemishes – rust or metal work. Once that is finished, the next step is panel alignment and fitment followed by a doing a mock-up before final assembly. But 300 hours is just the start. Once everything is fixed, the team moves onto paint and body where the bodywork is blocked and sanded by hand. This takes 550 hours.

The longest phase of the project is putting it all back together – the suspension, chassis, and drivetrain – a Ford Racing 5.0-liter V8 – are installed. Then the interior is installed, including electric wiring, gauges, and upholstery. The roll bar and exhaust system follow followed by a mechanical inspection, tuning, and break-in period before final prep and delivery.

But the customer gets more than just a finished product. Every week, customs receive build sheets – noted the hours worked and parts used – and photos – up to 600 once the build is finished – as the project progresses. That’s an insane level of customer service. You can have your own1973 Ford Bronco restomod for just $229,000. That sounds like a steal once you know what goes into the project.