Jay Leno’s rabid restomod Bronco corrals 760 ponies from a GT500 V-8

This 1968 Ford Bronco was sitting, unrestored and comfortable, in Jay Leno’s garage, until Kincer Chassis shoehorned in the 5.2-liter V-8 from the 2020 Shelby GT500. After, of course, the noted Bronco licensee rebuilt the chassis, Dennis Carpenter redid the sheetmetal, and LGE-CTS Motorsports painted and assembled it.

If restoration bequeaths new life, this Bronco got the Saul-on-the-road-to-Damascus experience.

“Jay wanted a sort of sleeper,” says Theresa Contreras from LGE Custom Truck Shop. We’d guess the GT500’s 760 horsepower adequately checks that box, since, even with the stretched rear wheelbase and custom grille, the profile remains unmistakably Bronco.

The handling, however, will be anything but standard ’68 Bronco, thanks to the 2×4-inch, 3/16-wall CNC mandrel-bent frame, fabricated nine-inch axles, and Eaton Truetrac differentials.

The 5.2-liter V-8 communicates with all four wheels via an off-road-spec Tremec five-speed, and will go where, in all likelihood, few Broncos have gone before, thanks to Fox coil-over shocks and Warn locking hubs. BFGoodrich 275/65-18 tires fit the 18×9-inch Detroit Steel Wheels.

Sourcing the coolers, fans, and radiators was a challenge, so we hear; but in this celebrity-stuffed restomod, custom solutions were found for custom problems. Which is convenient, given that, in addition to the herds of extra horses, the engine swap likely added a couple hundred pounds compared to a run-of-the-mill Bronco’s 302.

So what remains of that too-humble, unrestored Bronco? Same tub, same doors. That’s about it.

“Bronco was an iconic vehicle that was many things to many people,” Leno says. “The Bronco was bought to use on the farm or to take your date to the prom and was comfortable in any of these environments.”

Until now, we doubt the Bronco ever meant 760 horsepower to anyone, but there’s a first time for everything. If anyone can pull this off, it’s Jay Leno and his double denim… and his garage, where the rabid Bronco can chum it up with Leno’s 1963 Chrysler Turbine.