The
But it had already been tamed and polished for suburbanites, with cruise control and air conditioning, by 1994, when
The model was discontinued two years later. But the Bronco — or at least that white Bronco — became one of America's most iconic automobiles after the slow-speed chase that played out on TV screens before an audience of millions, a moment that was seared indelibly into the nation's cultural memory.
“Kids who were born in the 2000s, even they know that’s O.J.,”
The Bronco ridden in by Simpson, who died Wednesday, now sits in a crime museum in
White
Singer and guitarist
“With something like ‘Seinfeld’ or ‘Beverly Hills 90210,’ you might be losing some people,” Valencia said. “But that was the most ’90s thing ever.”
The White
MARKETED TO HUNTERS AND FISHERMEN
The Bronco rolled off the assembly line in 1966 as one of the first sport-utility vehicles, said
“The whole thing back then was get out and get away from the hustle and bustle of urban life and get into the backcountry,” Zuercher said.
The vehicle was marketed to hunters and fishermen but also to families for exploring, Zuercher said. The Bronco was an improvement over competing models, such as the Jeep CJ-5 and the International Scout, because it had a hard top, a heater and maybe even a radio.
SUVs progressively became larger and more luxurious over the years, Zuercher said, and by time of the Simpson car chase, the Bronco was on its fifth generation.
Simpson also owned a Bronco, but it was seized as evidence after blood was found inside. The one involved in the police pursuit was a 1993 XLT model belonging to his friend, former teammate and the driver that evening, Al “A.C.” Cowlings.
‘HE WAS CHECKING OUT’
Simpson was charged with murder after his ex-wife,
He was spotted later in the Bronco with Cowlings, sparking a 60-mile (96-kilometer) police pursuit across
Cowlings said there was only one thing on his mind: keeping Simpson alive.
“He was checking out,” Cowlings told The Associated Press in 1996. “There’s no way O.J. and I were trying to escape. I was trying to save a friend.”
Clutching a family photo, Simpson was ultimately coaxed out of the Bronco and gave himself up in the driveway of his
The make of the vehicle seemed to heighten the drama.
“If it were a Jeep Wrangler, it almost could have been any of us,” said Collins, the marketing professor. “But because it was a white
SOCCER MOMS WEREN'T DRIVING BRONCOS
There has been speculation that the chase hastened the Bronco's demise, or alternatively that it led to an uptick in sales.
Zuercher, the auto historian, said the Bronco was already on its last legs at the time. As a two-door SUV, it couldn't compete with four-door models that were family-friendly and extremely popular. The
“Most of the soccer moms of the 1990s weren't driving
The car-chase Bronco was later bought by three men, one of whom was Simpson’s former agent,
Besides the Simpson Bronco and Bundy's Beetle, the museum also houses a 1933 Essex Terraplane that belonged to gangster
The museum replays the chase on TV screens in the room where the iconic Bronco is parked behind a barrier, allowing visitors to relive the drama as they use cellphones to take snapshots of a slice of American history.
“A lot of people can name the exact bar that they were at” on that day 30 years ago, Smart said. “It was this shared experience with many across America. Everyone kind of has a story to tell of where they were, what they were doing, when that white Bronco chase came on.”
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