Sean,
They are on an F-350 chassis... a Crew Cab F-350 is what they start out as, then they "scab" on the rear clip of a Bronco to the back of the cab. I am not sure, but my feeling is they had to change the location of the rear axle and shorten the frame (even if it was a crew cab short bed chassis which I know Ford did not make, the back of a bronco is still shorter than a short bed truck, isn't it? My Ex is a bit shorter that a CCSB SD). The ones that I have seen were 460 or Diesel. Not sure if them make them in the later OBS Body, most I have seen were Bricknose. I have seen one or 2 that were a Slantnose, but they were not a bronco scab, the had a different rear that looked like a Bronco II body. For the most part, when they were popular, the were only built on the Bricknose and OBS body truck... and I have personally seen more brick than OBS ones. These are the grandpa/father to my truck the Ford built Excursion.... I would love to have one, but they either are completely ragged out, or I could find an Excursion for less.... I remember Danielle making a comment she had been looking for one for YEARS when she got hers.... one that is not junk... or had a $20k price tag on it..... if it isn't junk and in good shape and a decent price I would jump on it.....
As for being "rare".... I would say I physically see one ever 1.5 to 2 years.... where I see the Slant,Brick and OBS Trucks daily around here....
An FYI from wikipedia (take the info as you wish)
Bronco Centurion:
From the late 1980s through its demise in 1996, the Bronco was also sold at Ford dealerships as a modified 4-door SUV (making it similar to the Excursion or Suburban). These 4-door Broncos were converted by Centurion Vehicles of White Pigeon, Michigan. The conversion involved combining a new crew cab short bed F-Series truck with a Bronco tailgate and fiberglass top. In addition to adding a third row of seats and more room, a Bronco Centurion could be ordered using an F-350 as the donor pickup, allowing the Centurion to have such engines as the 7.3 L (450 cu in) PowerStroke turbodiesel and the 460 cu in (7.5 L) gasoline V8. Half-ton chassis featured the 351 cu in (5.8 L) fuel injected V8 engine.
The Bronco Centurion could be ordered with options such as a third-row seat that can be folded into a bed, second row bucket seats, a TV with a VCR, and a built-in radar detector.
Discontinuation:
In mid-1996, Ford officially made the decision to discontinue the Bronco. On June 12, 1996, the last Bronco ever built rolled off the assembly line at Michigan's Ford Truck Plant. The last Bronco was escorted by Jeff Trapp's 1970 Ford Bronco during a Drive-Off Ceremony. It was replaced by the Ford Expedition that answered a market that preferred 4-passenger doors, as well as to compete with GM's Chevrolet Tahoe and larger Chevrolet Suburban.
Bronco Centurions are considered after market conversions. Ford introduced the Excursion as an official production model in 2000.
And This from broncozone.com:
Metropolitan came out of Centurion. In Fact the president of Centurion at the time, left and started Metropolitan. They were only a couple of miles apart in a little town in MI.
Metropolitan did make some 1 tons, but the majority were stretched 1/2 broncos. They used the factory bronco flip and fold seat and mostly stock Ford Interior. I think they were made from '87 to '91 not sure on production numbers.
In the early years Centurion did both, they stretched broncos, and they used Crew cabs, but in the early years, crew cabs were pretty rare. Most had custom interiors, and and fold flat, bed type third seat. Early models where a fixed upright seat. They were made from '84-'96 Production numbers are estimated near 3000 total. There is a '79 floating around that the owner says has a Centurion sticker on the door jamb, but nobody I know has a pic or verified it. The black one posted in this thread is not a Centurion, much better quality for sure. The '84-early'86 models really looked goofy as the entire rear half and roof did not look like broncos at all. They were called the classic 1000's. Late in '86 until mid year '88 the rear portion was 100% fiberglass, with a removable top just like the bronco, and that is actually when they really started looking like broncos. In late '88 they went to a steel tub on the rear, from a bronco. They continued to do that until the bronco production was stopped in '96.
In the mid 90's Centurion was makeing 4 door F150's before ford was.
There are some customs jobs that were mass produced in very small numbers. Argentina actually has a version. Mexico has a version with barn style doors.
They made 1/2 ton, the later models we badged as C150, the 1 tons were badged as C350, the F250 never really got it own badge. It is among the rarest models as well as duallies.
Do they really look more like a pickup than a 2 door bronco? That seemed a little silly, they all share the same from clip and rear clip, just that middle thing is different.
I wonder if the one in bold with the production number is the one that is on here...
