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This 1966 Ford Bronco Was Built to Fly Over Sand, Not Crawl Over Rocks

Classic Ford Broncos are everywhere right now. They’re being reborn as six-figure restomods, lifted into Instagram-ready off-roaders, and polished into weekend cruisers that will never see a dirt road. But this 1966 example doesn’t care about any of that. It was never meant to crawl over boulders or idle through Cars and Coffee. This Bronco was built for one thing: going as fast as possible in a straight line across loose sand—and it looks like it still wants to do exactly that.

What makes this truck especially fascinating is that it didn’t start life as a normal Bronco at all. This was a pre-production model, later handed over to off-road legends Charlie Erickson and Bill Stroppe in the mid-1960s. Their goal wasn’t refinement or utility—it was domination. The result was a one-off sand drag racer that competed in desert events at a time when off-road racing was still being invented on the fly.

The first rule of racing is simple: add power and remove weight. This Bronco did both. Anything that didn’t make it faster was stripped off. Doors? Gone. Windows? Useless. Comfort? A luxury for people who aren’t trying to win. What remains is a skeletal, purposeful machine that looks more like a homemade missile than a vintage SUV.

Power comes from Ford’s humble 170-cubic-inch inline-six, but don’t let the displacement fool you. This one is force-fed by a Paxton supercharger and breathes through dual Stromberg two-barrel carburetors sitting on a custom intake manifold. Add revised intake and exhaust lobes, and you’ve got a recipe for a six-cylinder that’s working far harder than Ford ever intended. No one seems to know the exact output—and that somehow makes it even better. It’s paired with a modified three-speed manual, because of course it is.

The Bronco was fully restored in 2011, and Mecum notes that while its wild appearance was preserved, everything underneath was gone through properly. The suspension was revised, traction bars were added, and both axles now feature limited-slip differentials. Heavy-duty front shocks and custom 15-inch wheels help keep it pointed in the right direction, wrapped in Goodyear tires with hand-cut grooves specifically designed for sand.

And then there’s the braking system—or rather, the lack of one. In a move that perfectly captures the spirit of this machine, the front brakes were deleted entirely to save weight. In sand drag racing, slowing down is someone else’s problem. Preferably after the finish line. Hopefully on flat ground.

Inside, the Bronco is just as uncompromising. There’s a single bucket seat, a steering wheel, and a handful of gauges mounted into a wooden dash. That’s it. No insulation. No trim. No creature comforts of any kind. There aren’t even doors or windows, so driving it is less like piloting a truck and more like strapping yourself to a mechanical projectile. A helmet and goggles wouldn’t be overkill—they’d be smart.

Mecum will auction this Bronco on March 21, though no estimate has been released yet. Whatever it sells for, it won’t just be another classic SUV with a shiny paint job. It’s a rolling artifact from the wild early days of off-road racing, when builders made things up as they went along and weight reduction meant simply unbolting anything that looked unnecessary.

If you’re the kind of enthusiast who thinks doors, windows, and front brakes are optional, this Bronco isn’t just appealing—it’s perfect.

Source: Mecum Auctions

News

GM Refuses to Let the V8 Die

Not long ago, it felt like the V8 was being quietly escorted out of the building. Stricter emissions rules, turbocharged fours, and electrification all seemed to be writing the obituary for the eight-cylinder. But General Motors, never one to give up on horsepower without a fight, is doing the opposite—doubling down with an all-new generation of small-block V8 engines that will power Chevrolets, GMCs, and Cadillacs well into the next decade.

This sixth-generation V8 family isn’t just a mild update. GM is retooling multiple plants to support it, confirming production at facilities in Flint, Michigan, and Buffalo, New York, and now adding St. Catharines, Ontario, to the mix. That Canadian plant has already returned to two shifts as it ramps up for V8 production, underscoring just how serious GM is about keeping the internal-combustion flame alive.

The investment behind it is massive. GM says it has poured more than CA$2.6 billion into its Canadian operations over the past five years, including $280 million specifically allocated to support next-generation full-size pickups—vehicles that will be among the first to benefit from these new engines.

While GM hasn’t yet released official specs, the rumor mill is already running hot. The new V8 may revive the storied LS6 name and is expected to come in several flavors, including 5.7-liter and 6.6-liter variants. Sitting at the top of the food chain could be a 6.7-liter flagship, reportedly using an aluminum block and a dual fuel-injection setup that combines both direct and port injection—an arrangement that typically improves both power delivery and emissions performance.

And no, these engines aren’t just for work trucks and big SUVs. GM plans to drop them into sports cars too, starting with the Corvette lineup. That includes the long-awaited return of the Grand Sport, which has already been spotted during an official photoshoot wearing a familiar Admiral Blue paint job and red quarter-panel stripes, a visual callback to the beloved C7-era model.

If the rumors are accurate, the Grand Sport’s 6.7-liter V8 could make around 550 horsepower. That would slot it neatly between the standard Stingray and the more extreme E-Ray and Z06, creating a true sweet spot for buyers who want big power without stepping into full-blown track-weapon territory.

In an era when many automakers are shrinking engines or eliminating them altogether, GM’s new V8 push feels almost rebellious. It’s a reminder that while the future may be electric, the present still has room for thunderous exhaust notes, tire-shredding torque, and the kind of engines that made Detroit famous in the first place.

And if this new small-block delivers on its promise, the V8 won’t just survive—it might just be getting started again.

Source: GM

News

Bugatti Turns a Frozen Swiss Lake into the World’s Coolest Car Show

If you’re going to celebrate one of the most outrageous automotive dynasties in history, you might as well do it on a frozen lake in the Swiss Alps.

That, in essence, is what Bugatti did at The I.C.E. St. Moritz, the now-legendary winter concours that transforms Lake St. Moritz into a glittering stage for some of the world’s rarest and most desirable automobiles. More than 20,000 enthusiasts braved the cold to watch the French marque turn snow and ice into a backdrop worthy of its legacy—and its future.

And Bugatti didn’t show up quietly.

Veyrons on Ice, Skaters in Between

Front and center were three of the most coveted Veyrons ever built, all from the Les Légendes de Bugatti collection: the Grand Sport Vitesse Soleil de Nuit, Rembrandt Bugatti, and Meo Costantini. These aren’t just special editions; they’re rolling sculptures built to honor the people and stories that made Bugatti what it is.

Seeing them parked is impressive. Seeing them on ice, surrounded by professional figure skaters weaving between them like something out of a surreal fashion shoot, is something else entirely. It was part concours, part performance art, and entirely Bugatti—mixing absurd levels of engineering with a sense of drama no other brand even attempts.

These cars represent the moment Bugatti reinvented the hypercar. When the Veyron arrived in the mid-2000s, it didn’t just raise the bar—it launched it into orbit. A thousand horsepower. Over 250 mph. And the kind of craftsmanship you’d expect from a Swiss watchmaker. Two decades later, those numbers are no longer unthinkable—but the Veyron’s impact still is.

A Tiny Tribute to a Giant Legacy

Bugatti also took a moment to look much further back. Hedley Studios unveiled a one-off Bugatti Baby II ‘Meo Costantini’, a scaled-down electric tribute to the legendary Type 35—the race car that helped make Bugatti famous nearly a century ago.

Parked alongside its modern namesake, the Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse Meo Costantini, it was a reminder of how remarkably consistent Bugatti’s design DNA has been. From pre-war racers to four-turbocharged monsters, the marque has always balanced elegance with outrageous performance.

The Bolide Brings the Ice to Its Knees

If the Veyron display was about heritage and glamour, the Bolide was about raw, unfiltered insanity.

Bugatti brought three examples of its track-only W16 monster onto the icy circuit carved into the lake, where their owners drove them in front of a stunned crowd. On dry asphalt, the Bolide is a barely-tamed missile. On ice, it becomes something even more surreal: a 1600-horsepower experiment in physics, grip, and bravery.

It was a spectacle you could only get away with in a place like St. Moritz, where the audience expects the impossible—and Bugatti delivers.

From Type 35 to EB110

The concours side of the event was just as rich. Historic Bugattis including the Type 13, Type 35, and Type 37A competed in the Open Wheels class, while the iconic EB110—the 1990s supercar that bridged Bugatti’s old and modern eras—stood proudly in the “Birth of the Hypercar” category.

It was a rolling timeline of the brand’s evolution, all displayed on a frozen sheet of Alpine perfection.

More Than a Car Show

Off the ice, Bugatti hosted guests in the I.C.E. Village, a winter-chic chalet-style hub where owners, collectors, and fans mingled over drinks and stories. For Bugatti, this wasn’t just a marketing exercise—it was a family reunion.

As Managing Director Hendrik Malinowski put it, the event was about more than just showing cars. It was about celebrating what makes Bugatti Bugatti: the people, the passion, and the willingness to do things no one else would even consider.

And really, what other brand would think to drift hypercars across a frozen Alpine lake while figure skaters dance between Veyrons?

Exactly.

Source: Bugatti

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