Jeep vs Bronco | Engine Trouble | 2

0:09It's the summer of 1964 in the Mojave Desert. A blistering noontime sun beats down on a team of Ford engineers. The team spent all morning out in the middle of nowhere, road testing three vehicles. Two are made by Ford's competitors, an International Harvester Scout and a Jeep CJ5. The third is a Ford prototype of a four-wheel drive lightweight truck. They call it the Bronco. Team leader Paul Axelrad pops the hood on the Bronco and peers inside. After a couple of minutes, the black-haired 45-year-old slams the hood shut, wipes his brow, and turns to address his fellow engineers. The Bronco seems to be holding up in the heat.

0:52The drivetrain looks great. But let's kick it up a notch. Let's see how it tackles a downhill ride. The engineers nod in agreement. Two of them clamber into the Bronco while two others board the Jeep. Axelrad and a German-born engineer named Hans get into the scouting. Hey, Hans, head over to that rock ledge. See it over there? We'll just go down beyond that. Hans' eyes widen with worry. That must be a 30-degree slope. You sure about this, Paul? Yeah, I think we can handle it. Let's go. Arriving at the crest of the hill, Axelrat grabs a hand crank, rolls down his passenger window, and shouts out instructions.

1:34Okay, everybody, don't drive straight downhill. Take the vehicles across the face of the hill diagonally on the way down. Bronco goes first, followed by the scout, then the jeep. The caravan moves slowly over the rocky face of the hill. The descent gets gradually steeper. Suddenly, the jeep's driver loses control. The jeep skids sideways downhill and smashes into a ditch. Axelrad doesn't see what's happened because his scout's wheels are losing contact with the hill. I think we're tipping, Hans. Drop it down a gear. But it's too late. No, no, no, no, no, no, no! The scout flips and rolls down the hill.

2:18It turns over twice before landing upright at the base of the hill. Hans is dazed but unhurt. He looks over to his boss. Paul? Paul! Paul! Axelrad has been knocked out cold. After a couple of terrifying minutes, the team revives Axelrad. As he comes to, he sees the Jeep team writhing in pain. Oh my God! What happened to them, Hans? They crashed. One broke his arm, the other broke his collarbone. We've got to get all of you to the hospital now! But as he's being helped into one of the undamaged cars, Axelrad can't resist asking a question. Hans, how did the Bronco do? There's not a scratch on it, Paul.

3:03It outmaneuvered the Jeep, just like we thought it would. And because we put that wide wheelbase on it, it clung to the hill. The scout couldn't do that. Axelrad's ears are ringing and his head is throbbing, but he somehow manages a smile. The Bronco has beaten the competition in the merciless desert. But another test is looming on even more unforgiving terrain. The Car Dealer's Showroom.

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6:07On the last episode, the Jeep became a World War II hero by rolling over the Axis powers and becoming a symbol of freedom and American ingenuity. But the Jeep had a bumpy ride back home. And at Ford, a cigar-smoking executive named Lee Iacocca jump-started a project to build the Bronco, a vehicle designed to beat the Jeep. As Ford gets its Bronco ready, The question is whether Americans want to buy what Ford is selling. Jeep, meanwhile, will have to survive ownership shakeups and a branding snafu if it's going to answer the Broncos' challenge. This is Episode 2, Engine Trouble.

6:55It's summer 1964 in Dearborn, Michigan. Ford Vice President Lee Iacocca hurriedly walks into a conference room. A team of executives is waiting for him. Sorry I'm late, everybody. I was on a call getting the latest sales numbers on the new Ford Mustang. It's a hit! The Mustang, which Iacocca ushered into creation, just hit dealerships four months earlier, and it's been a sales sensation. Iacocca holds up a yellow legal pad on which he's scribbled the number 100 ,000. That's how many Mustangs we've sold in just four months. But look, I know we're not here for the Mustang. We're here to talk about the Bronco.

7:36Iacocca tosses the yellow notepad onto a large mahogany conference table and takes a seat. So how are we coming on that ad campaign? At the other end of the table, a 58-year-old copywriter from Ford's advertising agency stands up and adjusts his glasses. His name is Sid Olson, and his agency played a big role in naming the Mustang. Lee, I'm glad you mentioned the Mustang. Buyers are responding to a few things with that car. It has a great name, of course. But it's also flexible, as powerful as a sports car, but as roomy as a family sedan. Bronco is also flexible, but it can appeal to a different kind of buyer.

8:15Someone who wants a car that can go anywhere. Quite simply, the Bronco has it all. And that's what Americans want right now. A skeptical Ford executive chimes in. But how is it an alternative to the Jeep? Olsen removes his small, round glasses and addresses the executive directly. We are selling a Jeep alternative, only better. The Broncos got a six-cylinder power plant, coil spring suspension, wide wheelbase. Iacocca sits up in his chair and chomps on his unlit cigar as Olsen continues. Think about what's going on these days, gentlemen. Two years ago, we had the Cuban Missile Crisis. Last year, President Kennedy was assassinated.

8:56and this year we've seen massive anti-Vietnam War and civil rights protests. And yet our economy is booming. Americans are itching to get out. They want to have fun again. And the Bronco's going to let them do that. Or if I may quote from the song by the Beach Boys that came out this year, the Bronco is fun, fun, fun. Olsen walks over to an easel holding what appears to be a blank piece of poster board. He flips it over, revealing an oversized mock-up of magazine ads featuring three different models of Bronco, each painted in a bright pastel color. One Bronco charges uphill. The others are parked in suburban driveways surrounded by happy-looking families.

9:38He reads the ad's banner headline. Bronco, fun for mountain hopping or family shopping. How do you like that? At the other end of the conference table, Iacocco lights his cigar and exhales a big puff of smoke. He nods at Olsen's plan to have different Broncos for different kinds of customers. I like this, Sid. That's a run with it. If it's anything like the Mustang campaign, we'll sell a million of these Broncos. The ad team gets to work, and Ford's executives believe the newest horse in their stable will streak past the Jeep. But they'll soon discover that won't be so easy, because Jeep has something new under the hood.

10:26It's the spring of 1965 in Oakland, California. 56-year-old Edgar Kaiser paces around a 20-foot-long table inside the offices of Kaiser Industries, the company that owns Jeep. He's clutching a report with the specs on the soon-to-be-released Ford Bronco. Kaiser pokes his head outside his office, and three secretaries pop their heads up. They see his face as red, and they brace for what they know comes next. Call the Jeep factory in Toledo. I want to talk to the head engineer. Kaiser's father, the famed industrialist Henry J. Kaiser, bought Willys back in 1953 and soon after put his son in charge.

11:07Now, Henry Kaiser is 83, and Edgar controls the entire Kaiser empire. It includes shipbuilding and construction firms, as well as the Kaiser Permanente Health Insurance Company. I have Jeep for you on the line, Mr. Kaiser. Hello, this is Edgar Kaiser. I've got a report here that says Ford's got a new utility truck that's going to blow the doors off our Jeep CJ5. It says here the Ford is going to offer this Bronco thing with a V6 and a V8. Our Jeep still only has a four-cylinder. Why in the world are we not putting a bigger engine into the CJ-5? Well, Mr. Kaiser, we do make some bigger six-cylinder engines here, like the one we use in our new Jeep Wagoneer station wagon, but that engine won't fit inside the CJ-5.

11:54The engine compartment's too small. In fact, the compartment's the same size it was in World War II. Kaiser grabs his stomach. The thin businessman has developed an ulcer from working long days and draining business trips to Argentina and Ghana. And what he's hearing now isn't helping. Can't you find a smaller V6 that'll fit in the CJ-5? We're gonna need it if we don't want buyers flocking to this Bronco. Well, sir, we have tested some smaller V6s in the CJ-5 Jeep. The problem is, those engines are too powerful for our body style. The engines vibrate the Jeep's frame so much they make the ride miserable.

12:33Well, make this a priority. We need more power and we need it now. Months later, another call comes into the same engineer in Toledo. It's from a Jeep dealer in Salt Lake City. Hey, I heard you engineering guys have been experimenting with V6 engines and the CJ-5? Yeah, not successfully, but yeah, we have. Well, I know a CJ5 owner who just customized his vehicle. He swapped out your engine for one of those Buick Fireball V6s. The Buick engine fits? Yeah, like a glove. And how's the ride? Fast as hell and smooth. The Fireball engine has a huge flywheel, damps down the vibrations. Within weeks, Jeep executives strike an agreement to buy thousands of Fireball V6 engines.

13:22With 135 horsepower, there's still not a match for the Bronco's optional V8, but they are just as zippy as the Bronco's V6. The only problem is, Jeep won't be able to install them before the 1966 model comes out. And by then, the Ford Bronco will already be on the highways and leaving skid marks.

13:49It's the summer of 1965, just before the first Ford Broncos are due to roll off assembly lines and make their debut on television ads across America, showing cowboys atop bucking horses and drivers charging down rugged mountains and across streams and then sailing down smooth highways.

14:11Bronco!

14:15Bronco, Ford Bronco, first four-wheel drive sports car, blazing a new trail of excitement. The new Ford Bronco for 1966, a rough, tough, go-anywhere, climb-anything sports car. Choice of powerful six or big-new 200-horsepower V8 engine. Ford follows up its commercials that same summer with a swanky media event in Dearborn, Michigan, where three brand-new Bronco models are displayed under bright lights. Drinks flow freely as Ford Executive Donald Frey, dressed in a dark Navy suit, mingles. Then he walks over to a group of reporters, raises his glass, and nods, signaling he's ready to take questions.

15:02Mr. Fry, Jeep is one of the most respected names in the business. What makes you think your Bronco can beat it? Well, I'll tell you, fellas, that there's some big differences between us. I know Jeep just added a 6-liter engine to some of their CJ5s, but hell, it took them since 1941 to figure out how to do that. And we'll have a 6-liter engine from the start with an 8-liter soon after. Here's another big difference. If that new Jeep with the new engine breaks down, you better hope there's a Ford dealer around so you can get yourself a Bronco. Ford's hard sell on Bronco creates a buzz in the motoring press, just like the Mustang did.

15:39But once those Broncos start landing in garages, it becomes pretty clear. This is one horse that doesn't share what made the Mustang so massive. It's Giddy Up.

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17:27It's October 1965 at Buckmaster Ford in Hydro, Oklahoma. The suburban Ford dealership is packed with potential buyers. Most have come to look at newly released Ford vehicles for the 1966 model year. Some have come just to grab free donuts and coffee. But a sharp-eyed salesman in a gray suit spots what looks like a serious buyer who's eyeing Ford's new Bronco. The salesman approaches. Well, you've got good taste, sir. This is a one-of-a-kind vehicle. Is it? Looks kind of like a Jeep to me. Oh, no, no, no. This is no Jeep. This is the Ford Bronco. It's got better ground clearance, more powerful engine, and even if you take it off-road, you're going to get a highway-smooth ride.

18:11You can take this baby anywhere and do anything in the Bronco. Well, that does sound good. So, what can I do to get you into one of these today? Well, I don't know. It's interesting, but I don't know if I want a car that's this rugged. I just need something to drive to work. Why don't you show me that Mustang over there instead? Months later, back in Ford's world headquarters in Michigan, a Ford accountant is poring over the initial sales numbers for the Bronco with Don Fry, the executive who's led the Bronco project inside of Ford. Well, these are not great. We've made exactly 23 ,776 Broncos.

18:55And we've sold, well, let's see over here. Oh, just 6 ,600, right? Yeah, that's right. That's just more than one sold at each of our 6 ,400 dealerships, obviously below our projections. As Fry rubs his temples with worry, he spots something else in the numbers. It's a line item that notes that most of the Bronco's buyers have never bought a sport utility vehicle like the Bronco before. Hey, wait just a minute. If most of our buyers are new to the sport utility market, then we don't have to take market share from Jeep or Scout to win, right? We just have to convince more people that the Bronco can do everything for them.

19:38More even. And if we can do that, we can vastly expand our sales numbers. And that of the entire sport utility market, I'm thinking within a year or five years or so. Fry's right. Bronco eventually sells out all of its 1966 models as the SUV market gets bigger. But in 1969, a competitor emerges that is literally bigger. It's Chevrolet's smackdown answer to the Jeep CJ5 and the Ford Bronco. The two-ton off-road Titan is called the Chevy Blazer, and it's the biggest SUV ever. It's powerful, yet sporty. Drivers can remove the fiberglass top for a convertible experience. When the Blazer bursts onto the scene, it sets off an expensive SUV arms race, one that Jeep and Bronco can't afford.

20:40It's a cold December day in 1969. In Detroit, Edgar Kaiser adjusts his fedora as he walks through the wooden front doors at American Motor Company's headquarters. Inside, Kaiser walks purposefully to the Art Deco office of AMC CEO Roy Chapin. Chapin is expecting Kaiser, who dispenses with chit-chat and cuts right to the chase. Roy, I want to get out of the car business. Make me an offer for Jeep. Chapin is shell-shocked. He interlaces his fingers, drops his head, and wonders what Kaiser's asking. Finally, he lifts his head and looks Kaiser in the eye. Edgar, you know AMC's a small car company.

21:24Why are you bringing this deal to us? Chapin has a point. AMC has always worked with tight budgets to make smaller, mostly polite cars. Nothing to suggest it would try to muscle its way into the heavyweight market. And that's what Kaiser is asking Chapin to do. I want you to do this because when my father founded the Kaiser Car Company, he wanted to challenge the big three car makers in Detroit. When he died two years ago, you know what the newspapers wrote in his obituary? I'm sure many flattering things. Sure. But they also wrote that the only venture in which Henry J. Kaiser was not successful was in making cars.

22:06They said the competition was too stiff for him. Well, it's too stiff for me, too. But I still want to fulfill his wish. I want you to do what we Kaisers could not. I want you to take on Ford and GM and Chrysler, the big three. Edgar, look, I'm honored that you'd give me the chance. I'm not sure you know this, but I just so happen to be a proud Jeep owner myself. Good. Then let's talk money. Within an hour, they hammer out a deal. Chapin commits AMC to acquiring Kaiser Jeep for about$80 million and giving Kaiser Industries a 22 % stake in the new AMC. It's a fair deal on both sides. But after Kaiser leaves, Chapin calls in his executive team, who takes seats in the plush Art Deco chairs.

23:00Chapin lays out the terms, but his executives balk. Roy, that's never going to work. We're losing money hand over fist at AMC already. Did you see the Wall Street Journal article the other day? They called us a failing company. Kaiser's car company is no winner either. True, most of Kaiser's car profits come from making heavy trucks for the U.S. military, and his Jeep division is only marginally profitable. But Chapin won't be denied. He stands and glowers at his team. Listen up. Buying Jeep is an easy decision. That brand has survived a world war, a cold war, recessions, and it's still beloved by its buyers.

23:44I want Jeep. Weeks later, Chapin pushes the purchase through with AMC's board. But as 1970 ends, AMC posts another huge financial loss, and many inside the company begin referring to the Jeep purchase as Chapin's folly. Chapin soon manages to right the ship, though. But just as he positions Jeep to better take on the Bronco and the big Chevy Blazer, the industry will spring an oil leak.

24:19It's April 1973. AMC's CEO Roy Chapin is in AMC's Detroit design studio reviewing blueprints of a vehicle called the Jeep Cherokee. AMC is stacking its chips high on the Cherokee. It badly needs a winner because its sales are getting hammered by the Ford Bronco and the Chevy K5 Blazer. Together, they account for 75 % of all SUVs sold. Suddenly, an AMC marketing executive bursts into the design studio and flings a copy of the New York Times onto the drafting table, covering the blueprints for the Cherokee. Mr. Chapin, I think we have a big problem. The marketing executive points to a story on the front page.

25:01It's about a mass protest that Native American groups have been staging for nearly two months in Wounded Knee, South Dakota. The protest mostly involves the Lakota, but when Chapin scans the story, the word Cherokee jumps out at him. His face turns ashen. Oh, no. The story says that a member of the Cherokee Nation, who was shot last week by the U.S. Marshals, has died. Yes, sir, this thing's getting worse. The protest at Wounded Knee is taking place amid a larger call for the recognition of Native American rights. Just two years earlier, a group of Native Americans kicked off the movement during a 19-month occupation of the Alcatraz prison site.

25:43Chapin must act fast because the Cherokee is about to go into production. While it's a Lakota backlash, he can't afford to wait and see if there's a Cherokee reaction. He slaps the newspaper back down onto the drafting table. I'm not going to lose this name. We need to go to the Cherokee directly.

26:06In Toledo, four months later, Roy Chapin leads a tour of the factory where the Willys Jeep rolled off the line and headed into World War II. The situation in Wounded Knee has come to an end and Chapin has invited John Crow, the head of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, to tour the plant. Chapin brings the tour to a stop. He puts his hand on the shoulder of the Chief's tan suit. Chief, what can I do to get your support for Jeep to keep that name? Mr. Chapin, our people need two things. Respect for who we are and jobs for our people. Chief, I'd gladly make the Cherokee people part of the launch event for the new Jeep Cherokee.

26:47The two men shake on the deal. Months later, Chapin and Chief Crow and other members of Crow's tribe gather for a press event introducing the first-ever Cherokee to have rolled off the assembly line As photographers snap pictures, Chapin reaches into the pocket of his checkered sport coat and pulls out the keys to the Cherokee Chief Crow, I'd like to present you with a first-ever Jeep Cherokee Chief Crow smiles broadly and picks up a box that's at his feet. Mr. Chapin, I have something for you as well. Crow opens the box and removes a large ceremonial headdress. The feathers are red, white, and blue, the same colors American Motors uses in its branding.