Читать книгу Ford Bronco: A History of Ford's Legendary 4x4 - Todd Zuercher - Страница 7

W hen my wife, Andrea, and I were married a few years ago, I apparently told her that writing a book about the history of the Ford Bronco was one of the things on my bucket list. However, when Wes Eisenschenk offered me the opportunity to write this book, I honestly wanted to say no. I already had a “real” job as an engineer, was raising a family, had no shortage of hobbies, and was writing a few articles a year for Bronco Driver magazine and other outlets. Andrea helped give me some perspective on the opportunity and reminded me of that bucket list comment from a few years earlier. I realized I had a book “in me,” and my no turned to a yes. Thank you, Dre, for your encouragement, and Wes, for the opportunity to do this project. Who could have imagined that a simple Facebook Messenger message about research on another work would lead to this.

As I began to write, I was reminded that automotive writers have always, in a way, been heroes of mine. The ability to convey information and engender certain emotions in a compelling manner is a skill I have long admired. In my formative years, I counted automotive scribes such as Jimmy Nylund, Moses Ludel, and Tom Madigan as my chief influences. As an adult, Peter Egan, Tom Cotter, Peter Brock, Jim Allen, and Colin Comer have been those I admired and looked up to the most.

No one creates a book totally on their own, and this volume was no exception. Chief contributors who helped with the creation of this work were: Andrew Norton, Terry Marvel, Tim Hulick, Drew Peroni, Chris House, Jack Niederkorn, Ed Gudenkauf, Dennis Bragg, Dave Kunz, Rick Williamson, Cliff Brumfield, and David Grinch. Willie Stroppe’s memories of the 1977 Balloon Chase and other Bronco racing facts were particularly meaningful and helpful.

A special thanks goes to George Peterson and Dick Nesbitt for their help and recollections regarding Project Shorthorn and the resulting 1978 Bronco. I also owe a huge debt of gratitude to Don Wheatley, who led the engineering team that designed the 1978 Bronco and who was the coinventor of the Twin-Traction Beam front axle introduced in the 1980 Bronco. A delightful Saturday afternoon in July was spent reminiscing about his endeavors. Time spent with Parnelli Jones at his office in Torrance, California, is always a treat, and the interview for this book was no different. Thank you, Parnelli, for your time, and a big thanks to Jimmy Dilamarter, who always helps with logistics and puts up with my pestering emails.

Photos are a huge part of a historical record and pulling together images for this book was a large effort. Thanks to all who contributed photos to help make it possible. In particular, I am grateful for the help from: Al Rogers (Freeze Frame Image LLC), Jim Ober (Trackside Photo), Boyd Jaynes (Boyd Photo), Warren Crone (Ford Images), and Thomas Voehringer (Petersen Archives), who dug deep into the archives for some of the photos in the book.

Finally, all the production data in this book beyond the general totals for each year comes from Kevin Marti and his Marti Reports. Marti Auto Works is licensed by Ford Motor Company with the complete database of all Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury vehicles built from 1967 to the present. It has supplied statistics for this book. These statistics are copyrighted and used by permission of Marti Auto Works and Ford Motor Company. Marti Auto Works sells individual reports on vehicles and these are available at martiauto.com.

For all the people I’ve been able to connect with and reconnect with during the writing of this book, I’m so glad I said yes to this opportunity and the journey.