Many Blue Oval fans would give their eyeteeth for just one of the brand’s marquee examples that have passed through Kentuckian Norm Bush’s hands.

“I’ve been a ‘Ford Guy’ since my dad brought home a red ’66 Fairlane when I was about 9 years old,” he said. “I think that imprinted Ford as my brand, but soon Mustangs replaced the Fairlane as the car I wanted when I could drive.”

At 16, Norm would realize the first of many automotive dreams when he purchased his first car, a used ’67 Mustang 2+2 with a 289 and four-speed transmission.

“For me, that was the Holy Grail!” he added. “I paid a whopping $300 for it and thought I was cool.”

Over the years Norm would add his name to the ownership history of additional Mustangs, Boss 302s and 351s, R-code Mach 1s, Cougar Eliminators and the car that first caught his eye — a Fairlane.

“I had ‘Mustang Fever’ so bad that I really didn’t own anything else until much later in life,” he said.

But even for this dyed-in-the-wool horse wrangler, it was another pony that would catch his eye.

“I started seeing Broncos at shows and the light went off,” Norm said. “I’ve got to have one of those! It was like the ‘Mustang Fever’ was subsiding and ‘Bronco Fever’ was consuming me.”

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Occupying space in Norm’s stable are this Boss 302 and Mach 1

Season For Change

Norm quickly penned a Craigslist ad looking for a Bronco to call his own and soon after found a red ’77 in his garage.

“It needed work but looking back on it, wasn’t a bad starting point,” he says. “The problem was I was working seven days a week owning my own vending business back then and getting aggravated at my slow progress on it.”

Frustrated, Norm sold the ’77 and almost immediately had seller’s remorse. Undaunted, a ’73 Bronco soon occupied Norm’s open stall, but again, his day job would slow the Bronco’s progress painfully.

“I realized I need to sell this Bronco too, add money to it, and buy a nice one,” Norm said. “As luck would have it, it sold quick and Anthony Ramos over in the bordering state of Virginia had one up for sale. I jumped at the chance to buy it… and have loved every minute of ownership.”

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After spinning his wheels on his first two attempts, Norm landed this Sahara Beige beauty

After spinning his wheels on his first two attempts, Norm landed this Sahara Beige beauty.

“It’s a ’66 that has been heavily modified while trying to maintain the classic early Bronco looks,” he said.

A far cry from the 170-cubic-inch, three-on-the-tree little utilitarian vehicle it once was, Norm’s latest passion still retains stock-type front and rear bumpers while under the skin it’s more like a tube-frame rock crawler built inside a Bronco.

“I use the Bronco as an everyday driver most days,” Norm, who has since added another ’68 Bronco to his collection, said. “I cut back a little on my vending business which freed up some extra time to trim a few Mustangs from the heard.”

But don’t think this former Bluegrass Mustang Club President has strayed too far from his Mustang roots.

“I still have my ’64 1/2 convertible, a ’69 Boss 302, an original 31,000-mile ’89 Saleen and for fun, a very rare ’67 Mustang Jr (pedal car),” he added.

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Norm says that Broncos and Mustangs are both worthy collectibles.

With one foot in the Bronco camp and the other firmly in the Mustang stable, Norm stresses that both are worthy collectibles and many would agree. For this vending machine owner it would seem change was inevitable — except maybe when it comes to those darn machines.

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