Believe it or not, this old F250 won the Baja 1000 for class 8 in 1976! I'm really into old Ford Broncos and desert racing, and when I found this hulk of a bumpside racer lanquishing in the Arizona desert, I had to have it. I immediately noticed it was an old build, with many authentic old school cues. Before I even bought it, I researched it's history through comparing photos, and figured out the truck's pedigree. From there, I found names, googled them, found some dead ends, but also eventually talked to many folks who knew the truck and figured out it's complete history back to '75.
It was originally built into a racer in '75, by a well-known motorcycle racer and shop owner out of Van Nuys, CA, Mike Burke. Mike won many motorcycle races in the late 60s and early 70s and was a member of the highly respected Checkers group. I believe he was rated 9th, which considering how many motorcyclers were racing....thats pretty good. He built the truck in his Van Nuys shop with much help from the top fabricator at Bill Stroppe and Associates, who up through that time, had prepared more winning Baja trucks, Broncos, and mini trucks than any other shop. Bill Stroppe and the Bronco really helped Baja racing get started and was arguably the first really big Baja team back in the day. The signature work of the fabricator from Stroppe can be seen in the gussets and use of the light gold interior and cage paint throughout. Even the finishing paint breaks on the outer body match the Stroppe team, only different colors. Rumor has it, the fabricator received a Triumph TR6 motorcycle that Burke won the first Vegas to Reno motorcycle race with. I'm not sure what it's first race was, but I do know it raced the '76 Baja 500(beat by Scoop Vessels shortbed black stepside), and won the '76 Baja 1000. It also raced the '77 Baja 500 and 1000, but I'm not sure of the results.
Burke kept the truck til '79 when he sold to Ron Clyborne, who was a racer of buggies and other Baja trucks. It was prepped and maintained by Clyborne's shop, RAC under the supervision of Brian Lowe. Ron and co-driver Jim Hayes shipped it all the way to Australia for the Repco Reliability Trial in '79, which covered 12000 miles all around Australia! They also used it in the Golden West Rally in Reno, NV in '80. Other than that it was used mainly as a prerunner for many many miles in Baja. Thanks to Brian for much of the info I have on it and several old pictures.
After they sold it in 83 or 84 it ended up in Arizona and was only raced one or two times, once in Laughlin by Steve McEachern. After that race it was put aside and changed hands only as a disassembled project. At this point it needs just about everything, but it's a survivor from a long-passed style of Baja racing where fairly stock rigs were out there racing......and winning! Someone has added a bunch of extra tubing and changed the suspension. I plan to reverse thos modifications first and get a bed back on it. Back in the day, this truck was street registered, and I plan on getting it back on the road soon. Although it looks rough, it does currently run and go into gear. The first orders of business will be removing the aforementioned extra tubing and continuing the research!
