Long before the small but tough Ford Bronco Sport was introduced, there was the Ford Bronco II, a compact sibling to the third-gen Ford Bronco. The Bronco II was built to do everything the full-size Bronco could, just with a smaller footprint - similar to the Chevy S-10 Blazer, one of its direct competitors.
A classic review of both vehicles recently surfaced online, showcasing the 1983 Ford Bronco II and the Chevy S-10 Blazer alongside one another. The presenter points out that while the Bronco II and S-10 Blazer occupied the same market, they were built with different goals in mind. Both vehicles had similar styling cues - a blunt front end dominated by a rectangular grille and a boxy profile - but the Bronco II had sightly smaller dimensions, making it more maneuverable off-road and in the city.
But despite its smaller stature, the Ford Bronco II actually offered more interior space than the S-10 Blazer. Its cockpit was also more well-furnished than its Bow Tie Brand competitor, offering standard features like carpeted footwells that were extra-cost on the Blazer. The Bronco II also offered standard manual or optional automatic locking front hubs, a choice that the Blazer did not have.
There's also the question of performance. The Chevy S-10 Blazer was afflicted by a problem that hindered quite a few General Motors products of the time: the gear synchronizers may not line up properly, allowing the SUV to get bogged down in slippery terrain before the driver can activate the four-wheel-drive (4WD). The system was more complicated than that of the Bronco II, and more mechanical components meant more potential points of failure.
The Ford Bronco II cradled a V6 engine as standard, whereas the S-10 Blazer offered the six-cylinder as an optional upgrade. The Blazer also lacked power steering, which was standard on the Bronco II, just one of many functional options offered on the Bronco II that weren't available on its competitor.
In short, while the Ford Bronco II is often overlooked in The Blue Oval's lineup, it was a formidable rival to its competition at the time. It's become somewhat of a cult classic in recent years, too, landing itself on Hagerty's 2025 Bull Market list.
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