Jay Leno's ‘68 Bronco has the ‘most powerful engine Ford has ever built’

Yahoo Entertainment
Updated

Craig Ferguson was on Jay Leno’s Garage Wednesday, where he got to see what happened to the gift he left Jay Leno on his last day at The Tonight Show. Ferguson had his non-running and dilapidated 1968 Ford Bronco left in Leno’s parking spot, but it was Leno who got the last laugh. With a new 2020 Bronco set to debut for the first time since it was discontinued in 1996, the marketing folks over at Ford thought it’d be fun to “restomod” Jay’s 52 year old truck as a way of promoting the nameplate. And they didn’t just use any engine, they modified an aluminum supercharged 5.2-liter V8 engine found in the 2020 Mustang Shelby GT500, which happens to be Ford’s most powerful engine ever built. In order to make the truck drivable Ford installed a custom chassis by Kincer and TR-4050 5-speed Silver Sport transmission by TREMEC along with a Quickdraw bellhousing and STX shifter assembly, heavy-duty 4x4 drivetrain, and Wilwood disc brakes and master cylinders. While the ultra-powerful Bronco is amazing, Leno admits there is one minor drawback. “There's no room for an air conditioner or a heater,” he said. “That engine is so big, it takes up every available space.”

Video Transcript

CRAIG FERGUSON: So what did you do to it?

JAY LENO: I mean, everything-- all custom transfer cases, Tremec 5-speed, and the biggest one, of course, is the Ford 760 horsepower motor out of the new Shelby 500.

KYLIE MAR: Jay Leno's longtime friend, Craig Ferguson, was on "Jay Leno's Garage" Wednesday, where he got to see what happened when Ford modified the 1968 Bronco he gave Jay on his last day at "The Tonight Show."

JAY LENO: That is the new engine from Ford's 2020 Shelby GT500, a supercharged 5.2-liter V8 with 760 horsepower, the most powerful engine Ford has ever built.

KYLIE MAR: With a new Bronco set to debut for the first time since it was discontinued in 1996, the folks over at Ford thought it'd be fun to take a modified one-of-one engine from the new mustang Shelby 500 GT and stick it into Jay's 52-year-old truck, which, of course, meant a lot of other modifications.

JAY LENO: So we had to install a custom chassis by Kincer, so this Bronco could handle the massive torque. With modern braking and suspension, a new 5-speed transmission, and a custom paint job, it's in much, much, much better condition than when Craig gave it to me.

KYLIE MAR: And while the Bronco is incredibly powerful--

CRAIG FERGUSON: Wow.

JAY LENO: But you see, just touch the throttle.

[CAR ACCELERATING]

CRAIG FERGUSON: Whoa!

JAY LENO: You feel it, yeah.

CRAIG FERGUSON: [LAUGHS]

KYLIE MAR: All that power comes with one minor drawback, and it's not cool at all, literally.

JAY LENO: There's no room for an air condition or a heater. That engine is so big, it takes up every-- every available space.

CRAIG FERGUSON: What about 100 less horsepower, and two less cylinders, and an air conditioner?

JAY LENO: Well, that would be the coward's way.

[MUSIC PLAYING]