John Bronco

Ooh.

Who was John Bronco?

I'm told his name is John Bronco.

How did he have such a major impact on the world?

Would you welcome John Bronco.

How does a man who enthralled audiences

over American airwaves for over 30 years

just disappear?

John Bronco has disappeared.

- When I tell people that I'm a John Bronco expert,

a lot of times they're like,

"Oh, John Bronco.

"Was he the guy in the old Ford commercials?

The spokesperson?"

And, uh, I'm like, "Well...

Not just a spokesperson."

That'd being like saying I Can't Believe It's Not Butter

is just margarine.

Which, I guess it is,

but it's the most iconic margarine,

uh, and that's the reason why I brought up the margarine.

I'd have to say a couple of dozen at least.

'Cause that's all you have out there.

Just you and your shoes.

Oh, man. What a move.

But nothing compared to the stuff John Bronco did.

Everyone in the spokesperson world looked up to John Bronco.

And he set the model for how you represent a brand.

This is the Micro Machine man

presenting the midget miniature motorcade of Micro Machine.

I mean, let's face it, I especially admired his cool laid-back demeanor

which is a real influence on me and my style as a pitch man.

- Ah, nope, that would be like asking George Clooney to do

something ten times less attractive.

I got one speed here, pal.

Now the Ford archives are huge.

We've got records going back to Model A, Model T,

The Mustang,

drawings of the F-150,

everything that you could think of,

but most of it is John Bronco stuff.

So this is all-- all John Bronco stuff.

All John Bronco stuff.

Got a bunch of his hats in here.

Bunch of boots that he wore down here.

This is the John Bronco stuff that can't be touched by light.

Kinda spooky.

Here we go.

This is the first known photo of John.

1962.

Look at that.

Yeah, that's a real man right there.

- I remember the first time I ever laid eyes on John.

He was... ah, just a rodeo rider

without a penny to his name,

but I knew we were destined to be together.

From the time he started out in rodeo,

John Bronco was considered a sort of a Renaissance man.

You knew he was destined for something special,

it was just a matter of being in the right place

at the right time.

The place was Baja, California.

Baja!

The time, 1965.

Modern day gladiators prepare to battle

against the rugged obstacles

of the lower Californian peninsula.

It is a race, but the course resembles a labyrinth

designed by the Devil himself.

Ford was bringing

an as yet unnamed vehicle to the race in Baja,

and they wanted to win.

After World War II,

both Jeep and International Harvester

introduced a utility vehicle,

but it was kinda like riding around in a tumble dryer.

Ford had the idea

to design a sport utility vehicle,

one that could go to the grocery store one minute

and off-road the next,

and they figured that Baja would be the perfect place

for them to test it out.

Now apparently, Lee Iacocca goes to his people and says,

"Just get me the toughest son of a bitch in town,"

and it turns out the toughest son of a bitch in Baja that day

was in fact--

- Yeah, I--yeah, I was gonna say John Bronco.

And out of the gate,

he's the number one rodeo rider,

John Bronco!

Well, uh, we were in Mexico for an event,

and, uh, this guy from the Ford Motor Company

comes up to me, and he goes,

uh, "Do you know any race car drivers?"

And I figured if anyone could do it,

John could do it.

John didn't even have a driver's license.

I told him, "Ride it like it's a horse."

And that clicked for him.

And gaining is the newcomer in the Ford.

I'm told his name is John Bronco.

- I don't know if he even knew who he was racing

or where he was going.

And the Ford is now passing

the favored Ken Stills for the lead.

John Bronco is in the lead, and he ain't giving it up!

Ford, Bronco at the wheel.

He drove nonstop,

36 hours.

And he won.

Ladies and gentlemen, your winner,

John Bronco!

A new racing champion had been crowned,

and the world was about to be introduced

to John Bronco.

Tell me, how does it feel to win

the most important off-road rally race

in the world?

Are you shitting me, right?

- I am not. You have just won the race!

No, like hell I did.

- No, no, you really won. So tell me,

how's it feel to go from a nobody

to a racing hero?

Well, I--I ain't no hero,

but uh,

but I ain't no nobody neither now.

I'm just a-a country boy

in dirty boots

who's out there every day busting his ass

trying to make a living.

- Well, you must be exhausted after that grueling drive.

Well, you ever tried to tame a wild buck?

I work five day shifts,

14 hours a day on a factory floor.

- Never done that. - Well, driving through the

desert with no food or water don't scare you that much.

It ain't shit compared to what the average working man does

day in and day out.

So if you about to give me a trophy or something,

why don't you keep it?

Take it back to that fancy-ass country club you belong to.

Let honest hardworking Americans like me

go eat some fudge. How 'bout that?

Huh? How 'bout that?

That all struck a chord with the average Johnny,

present company included.

Except for the part where he said, "Eat some fudge."

I think that was a heatstroke thing.

Eat some fudge!

Eat some fudge, eat some fudge...

The country went nuts for John's speech.

I mean, it really hit a nerve.

- Yeah, it's one of the greatest underdog stories

of all time.

- 'Scuse me, I didn't give you my sunglasses, did I?

- I-I don't think so. - And to top it off,

he did the whole race in reverse.

I got to go back and get 'em!

Actually beat his own time.

Somehow he did it even faster.

People wanted to know,

who was this mystery man,

and what was this mystery car he was driving?

Ford knew they had a big star on their hands.

You know what they did?

They told John that they were gonna name the car after him.

Seemed pretty obvious to me.

Bronco is a great name for a truck,

and come to think of it,

it was the perfect name for a rodeo rider,

but that was his given name: John Bronco.

It's called an aptronym.

Like, uh, Cecil Fielder the baseball player,

or Jude Law the judge.

Is there an actor named Jude Law?

- Oh, I guess I should've said, uh,

Orlando Bloom the florist.

Really?

What about Brad Pitt, the peach pie maker?

- Absolutely not. You never saw that commercial?

Oh, hi! I'm Bradley Pitt,

the peach pie guy.

Come on down to The Peach Pit and get yourself some pie.

- Yeah. Why?

The point is, Ford found its pitchman,

and it was John Bronco.

Bronco.

Bronco. Bronco.

First four-wheel drive sportscar.

Blazing a new trail of excitement,

the new Ford Bronco

for 1966.

Hi, I'm John Bronco.

I know good horse when I see one.

Now this may not be a horse,

but it sure does buck like one.

So if you're looking for a horse that's a truck,