FORD BRONCO ENTHUSIASTS RESTORE THE DREAM BOTH FOR EVERYDAY DRIVERS AND COLLECTORS
Above: Gateway’s all-electric LUXE-GT Ford Bronco delivers a 300-mile range and zero to 60 in approximately 4 seconds.
April, 2023- FORD BRONCO ENTHUSIASTS RESTORE THE DREAM BOTH FOR EVERYDAY DRIVERS AND COLLECTORS
Ford was one of three companies that worked to develop the Jeep. According to the Studebaker National Museum, the grandaddy of today’s beloved 4x4 vehicles started as a request by the U.S. Army in 1940 for a general-purpose, lightweight vehicle that had four-wheel drive and could carry a light machine gun.
Testing and development produced a vehicle straight out of the Johnny Cash song “One Piece at a Time.” American Bantam’s Spicer-sourced four-wheel transmission and differential was paired with a Go-Devil engine from Willys-Overland and an overall bodywork configuration of the Ford Model GP.
During the war, Ford produced more than 250,000 Jeeps, and the surplus cars were often driven by returning veterans and outdoor enthusiasts. This experience led Ford to believe it could develop a hybrid utility and sports vehicle and the seeds for the company’s iconic Bronco were planted. Famous Ford product manager Don Frey described the first sketches of the car as “neither a conventional car nor a truck, but a vehicle that combines the best of both worlds. It can serve as a family sedan, as sports roadster, as snow plow, or as a farm or civil defense vehicle. It has been designed to go nearly anywhere and do nearly anything.”
Customization is at the heart of every truck that Gateway Bronco builds Nothing is off the rack.
GOAT In 1966, the initialism G.O.A.T. in reference to the Bronco, indicated “goes over all terrain,” but the truck’s longevity certainly has made it one of the greatest of all time among devotees.
This fire-red Bronco has a custom hair-on-hide interior.
According to Hagerty, the first-generation Bronco “is by far the most popular among collectors, which has driven values to nearly double between 2016 and 2019. Near-perfect examples of a firstgeneration Bronco with a factory V-8 can set enthusiasts back $80,000 or more. Quality custom builds can easily eclipse the six-figure mark. One thing is for sure the first-gen Bronco is likely to remain the leader of the truck and SUV popularity stampede for the foreseeable future.”
Buyers who want a vintage Bronco might find a specimen in good condition that just needs a cosmetic refresh, but, at the end of the day, the ride in that car isn’t going to be equivalent to a modern vehicle. As a result, many people are opting for either high-end professional builds where all the hardware is new or frame-off restoration where the body is completely removed from the frame while paint and bodywork is done and mechanical work is done on the frame. A frame-off restoration doesn’t provide as many of the newer safety benefits and luxury than a full-on new build.
At Gateway, Broncos don’t leave the Hamel, Illinois, facility until delivery— all work is done in house.
Gateway’s proprietary solutions to recondition the first-generation Bronco have led to the company’s growth.
Seth Burgett, Gateway Bronco
MAKE IT MODERN
At Gateway Bronco in Hamel, Illinois, Seth Burgett and his team of skilled workers design and restore Broncos the Henry Ford way on an assembly line. Gateway’s 60,000-sq.-ft. shop is vertically integrated from metal fabrication to powder coating, paint and final assembly. “We’re taking a primitive Ford utility vehicle and turning it into a modern sport SUV,” Burgett says. He made the decision to get into the Bronco business after taking a cross-country trip from Walden Pond to California with his then-17-year-old daughter. “I picked her up at LaGuardia Airport in an old, original-paint Bronco and drove to Walden Pond. From there, we went to Niagara, Glacier, Seatt le, down to Big Sur five weeks, 5,000 miles and an original Bronco. We learned it inside and out. “Before I became a professional, I did restorations out of necessity,” continues Burgett . “If I wanted a decent car, I had to take an old, rusty car and do the work myself. I did sheet metal and panel replacement, then auto body work. I painted my first car at 14.” After college, which he paid for by painting cars, he built a career in engineering and leadership, so, for him, Gateway Bronco is “coming back to those roots. It brings me so much fun and enjoyment.” He says a big differentiator for Gateway was becoming licensed by Ford to build Broncos.
The first Bronco was a 6-cylinder half-cab, built in 1966, and Gateway Bronco has stewardship of this historic vehicle.
ATTENTION TO DETAIL
Restoring Broncos has a set of unique challenges since they’re four-wheel drive vehicles that have been used for farm work and adventuring since they rolled off the line in the 1970s. “We have to fix all those panels,” says Burgett , “and that’s not an easy task.”
Most of Gateway’s team members are master craftsman or journeyman-level technicians to ensure production is consistently meeting clients’ needs.
During final assembly, all vehicle manufacturers check to ensure that a car’s panels are joined correctly and adhere to tight tolerances, which requires accurate gauging of gaps and clearances. Gateway uses laser alignment, fixturing and repeatability until “we get a really refined flush gap that meets our standards. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t move forward. Quality control is dominant in our success.” Each build also undergoes at least 18 proprietary structural reinforcements. Burgett says he partners with companies for tools and equipment that are going to provide the highest quality. “TIG welding and spot welding are a big component of what we do, and we have the whole Miller line. [Machine distributor] Mittler Bros. is who we use for all our metal forming and sheet metal brakes.” Gateway’s builds include an EV Bronco, and customer requests have ranged from traditional to unusual, including a Bronco with infrared lights “so you could drive down the interstate, without your headlights on, wearing night vision goggles,” a push-button rear window that “goes down vertically like an old station wagon,” and a gun case hidden under the metal bed. “Press a button, and the entire bed comes up with the gun case underneath. It could hold 10,000 rounds of ammo.”
PAST AND FUTURE
“Taking something that looks so primitive, raw and abused it’s like polishing an old piece of brass,” says Burgett . “It’s so satisfying to see a vehicle go from rough metal to bodywork. The finished paint work is probably my favorite part because I have an auto-body background, but my mechanical engineer side also enjoys improving the drivability of vehicles.” Gateway generally hires about two fabricators every quarter as its business continues to grow and it has no problems finding people who want the job, either training them internally or hiring from the outside. The company also offers an Innovators scholarship in partnership with the Carroll Shelby Foundation, McPherson College and the Carroll Shelby Automotive Program at Northeast Texas Community College. Scholarships worth $5,000 are given each spring so a student at each school can complete an eight-week summer internship at Gateway’s facility. “By working with top automotive tech programs, we hope to inspire and prepare the next generation of young people to push the envelope through meaningful careers in this exciting industry,” says Burgett. “Our future is continued innovation,” he continues. “We have continued to push the envelope for these vehicles, refining the laser scanning of the sheet metal as well as moving more of the fabrication to the spot welding side. We’re now dipping into the million-dollar vehicle category as well.” FFJ
Gateway Bronco, http://gatewaybronco.com/
