If there were certain constants in the 1980s, one of them was the fact that when an advertisement for pickup trucks came on TV, you were going to see some thrashing, some abuse, and some fun being had. It wasn’t like today when everyone needed to be told they are some kind of a mountain man or a damned cowboy in their leather wrapped, $80,000 truck. Nope, back then it was bashing the brains of the test driver off the roof of the cab, hammering over logs and junk, and sticking monster trucks in the commercials for no apparent reason.
Actually, let me correct that. There was a really good reason to have monster trucks in those ads back in the 1980s and I am living proof. When my dad started hunting around for a truck in 1986 I implored, begged, fretted, and otherwise freaked out about him only buying a Ford because Bigfoot was a Ford and I was a dyed in the wool Bigfoot kid. When he bought a stripper, rubber floor mat, crank windows, 4bbl 351 powered F-250 shortly thereafter I felt like I had supported the cause successfully. Either that or my dad had successfully beat up the Ford guy for a better price on the truck. Either way, those ads spoke directly to my little gearhead brain.
Lastly, a couple of these ads feature the Bronco II. I hated those things new and I think I hate them more now. Convince me that I shouldn’t.
Why did you not like the Bronco II’s? I don’t remember them being any better or worse than anything else Ford was offering at the time.
I’d take a Bronco II over a S-10 Blazer every day of the week.