When Is a “Vintage” Bronco Not a Bronco? A Brewing Lawsuit May Decide

Less than a month ago, Ford filed suit against a small company that builds vehicles that resemble first-generation, 1966-1977 Ford Broncos. In reality, they ride on the chassis of a new 2024 Ford Bronco, retaining features ranging from six airbags to air conditioning. Ford is claiming all kinds of illegal acts by that small company, which went by the name Vintage Bronco until this legal kerfuffle started. Now it is calling itself Vintage Modern.

Ford has hired at least two law firms, each of which can accurately be characterized by the traditional descriptor of “high-powered,” and these entities have asked Vintage Modern to A) stop building these vehicles, and B) pay up.

Ford may have underestimated the will of the owner of Vintage Modern, 44-year-old Chau Nguyen, who has founded and sold some relatively high-powered internet startups, but it’s doubtful that the depth of his pockets match those of Ford Motor Company.

Nguyen doesn’t sound like he’s going down without a fight: “Ford’s claims are contrary to the long-standing practices of the aftermarket industry, which have fostered creativity and innovation for decades. This complaint is also an affront to the car enthusiast community that celebrates customization, restoration, and individuality,” he told Hagerty. “We respect Ford’s legacy but strongly disagree with their position. Vintage Modern remains confident in the integrity of its practices and stands with the automotive community in defending the spirit of innovation and personalization for the aftermarket.”

And this: “We’re not going anywhere,” Nguyen said. “Vintage Modern remains confident in the integrity of its practices and is 100 percent committed to providing the market with our modern classic vehicles. We have every confidence in our product and processes. Vintage views this lawsuit as more than a legal battle—it is a challenge to innovation, consumer choice, and the aftermarket industry as a whole. We look forward to the opportunity to prove that Vintage operates with integrity and in full compliance with all applicable laws.”

Prior to the October 31 lawsuit filing, Ford and Vintage Modern, the latter founded in 2018, had been in at least limited communication. It appears that Vintage Modern initially offered Ford a “bailment proposal,” which, if Ford went for it, would have allowed Vintage to purchase new Broncos at a discount. Ford said no.

Then, on June 3, attorney Jay Burgett of Kucala Burgett Law, a Chicago firm that specializes in trademark infringement, Fed-Ex-ed a blistering cease-and-desist letter to Vintage Modern.

This is the first paragraph, which basically sums up Ford’s concerns:

“It has been almost a year since Ford declined your ‘Bailment Proposal.’ Ford was therefore shocked to recently learn that you went ahead without a license to acquire more than 40 new Ford Bronco vehicles for the sole purpose of materially altering them as contemplated in the rejected Bailment Proposal by, among other things, fully replacing the exteriors with replica first-generation Ford Bronco bodyshells and are misleadingly claiming they are as safe as brand-new, off-the-line unmodified 2024 Ford Bronco vehicles. Ford takes matters that threaten customer health and safety and the reliability of its brand very seriously and requests that you immediately stop.”

Nguyen did not.

There is also the following footnote, which suggests that Ford may go after Vintage Modern not only for the new “Broncos” that they are building and selling as of 2024 but also for the restorations and “restomod” Broncos that Vintage sold beginning in 2018:

“We note you were previously restoring and modernizing used first-generation Ford Bronco vehicles (‘restomods’) also by using new bodies, new chassis and/or other entirely new structural components. Your website previously stated: ‘High end, modernized and professionally built—every single nut and bolt on the Bronco is brand new. These builds are done by professional companies who specialize in Broncos and are labor and capital intensive and cost $150K-$250K. This is our specialty.’ It appears you have stopped this ‘restomods’ business in favor of the conversion of brand-new Ford Bronco vehicles. However, to be clear, Ford considers your restomods that involve total replacement of exteriors with new bodyshells along with other material alterations to fall under the definition of an Unlicensed Vehicle as referenced herein.”

To the aftermarket industry, this bit may be the most important aspect of Ford’s lawsuit; it could send chills down the spine of every company head who builds restored or restomod vehicles, especially, say, Mustangs. (Among those exempt from this concern is Revology, the Orlando-based company that builds, under license from Ford, brand-new vintage Mustangs from the ground up.) The moral may be to try to keep as much of the original bodywork as you can, less you fall under the definition of an “Unlicensed Vehicle” which, to Ford’s way of thinking, would allow an OEM to come after you, in similar fashion to the way Porsche went after Singer Vehicle Design earlier this year.

Following the June 2024 cease-and-desist came Ford’s lawsuit, filed in Georgia’s Northern District Court (Vintage Modern is based in Buford, Georgia) on October 31. The complaint itself, at 94 pages, is pretty tedious reading, essentially covering the history of Ford Motor Company in general, the 1966-77 first-gen Ford Bronco in particular. The law firm this time is the Atlanta office of Kilpatrick, Townsend & Stockton, which has offices in such far-flung cities as Anchorage and Beijing and claims as clients one-third of the Fortune 500 companies. Some of the salient points in the suit:

—The complaint contains copies of web pages from AutoTrader.com earlier this year, where Vintage Modern advertised “at least 15” reimagined Broncos of different colors for $249,500 each.

—In that original bailment proposal to Ford, Vintage Modern asked to be able to buy new Broncos at fleet prices, then “strip off the external bodies of the all-new Bronco vehicles and rebuild the exterior design and appearance to imitate the Classic Bronco body styling, which would sit on the modern drive train, among other cosmetic, performance, and material interior and exterior alterations.” As mentioned earlier, Ford didn’t like the idea. Nguyen, by the way, pointed out to us that the new bodies are not made in Taiwan, the source of most aftermarket body panels. “We’re proud that the bodies of Vintage Modern vehicles are manufactured exclusively for us in the United States.”

—After first learning of the existence of the new Vintage Modern vehicles in April of this year, when one was prominently displayed as a prize in a televised LPGA golf event, “Ford investigated and was able to confirm that Vintage had indeed purchased approximately forty-five 2024 Ford Bronco vehicles from various Ford dealerships across the United States, including California, Georgia, Florida, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Wisconsin.”

—Vintage Modern “prominently boasted safety claims such as: “GET THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS… CLASSIC CAR DESIGN MEETS NEW CAR SAFETY, RELIABILITY AND LUXURY [emphasis theirs—Ed.].” Ford makes the point that unless Vintage Modern is crash-testing the vintage-body-new-chassis vehicles to see if the six airbags are positioned where they should be, any protection they offer is not verified. Ford also raises the question of whether Vintage Modern, which is selling a “new” vehicle that hasn’t been tested for crashworthiness, may be in a bind if the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration comes sniffing around. Again, Nguyen feels otherwise. “We disagree with Ford’s position. We are well aware of the FMVSS requirements and have gone through great lengths to ensure compliance. We’ve gone above and beyond the industry norms, for example, by engaging in third-party testing of the vehicle’s airbag functionality. We remain committed to providing safe, high-quality vehicles that meet federal standards and our customers’ expectations.”

—Ford’s assertion that Vintage Modern “knowingly, willfully, intentionally, and maliciously adopted and used a substantially indistinguishable and confusingly similar imitation of the Ford Bronco Trademarks and Trade Dress. Specifically, on information and belief, Vintage intentionally designed and manufactured vehicles bearing Ford Bronco Trademarks and Trade Dress to mislead and deceive consumers into believing they were manufactured, sold, authorized, or licensed by Ford.” To Ford, “Trade Dress” includes everything from the Bronco’s “overall boxy shape” to the contour of the front fender. To that, Nguyen said: “Vintage Modern vehicles do not include any aftermarket Ford or Bronco emblems. We have also included a disclaimer on our website that expressly distinguishes Vintage and Ford vehicles.”  

Indeed, the following has been included at the bottom of the website’s home page:

“Vintage Modern has no sponsorship, association, approval, or endorsement from any motor company including Ford Motor Company. The names Ford® and Bronco® are trademarks of Ford Motor Company, and any other trademarks mentioned belong to their respective owners. References to these trademarked names or marks are solely for identification purposes. Vintage Modern vehicles should never be referred to or described as a ‘Vintage Ford Bronco,’ ‘Ford Bronco,’ ‘Vintage Modern Ford Bronco,’ or ‘Ford Vintage Modern Bronco.’”

It’s a first step, but alone it seems unlikely to convince Ford to call off the legal dogs. This one could end up in court or, like the Porsche-Singer legal action, be settled with no public comment from either side.

When reached for comment, a Ford spokesperson responded with the following:

“Bronco is one of the most famous and loved brands in the world. Vintage Broncos’ unauthorized modifications and resale of modern Ford Broncos, reselling them as ‘vintage’ is misleading and unfairly profits from Ford and Bronco brand assets that we have spent decades building. We have an obligation to take all appropriate steps to stop those who put customers at risk and ride on the coattails of Ford’s significant investment and reputation.”

So who is Vintage Modern’s founder, Chau Nguyen? He describes himself on LinkedIn as a “serial entrepreneur.” He told Jezebel Magazine, in a breathless profile published in September of 2022, that he is the son of parents who were refugees from Vietnam. A lifelong car guy, he has “owned 50-plus cars, just about every brand you can think of: Ferrari, Lamborghini, McLaren, Aston Martin, Bentley, AMG, etc. Early on in my career I worked hard just so I could buy cars. That changed over time, but it has always been my reward for winning.”

He has also been a lifelong Ford Bronco fan, he said in the magazine story. “The original 1966 to 1977 Ford Bronco was a dream car of mine since high school. A guy at my school had one and I remember him driving around on a sunny day with the top down, music on, friends in the back and I knew I had to have it one day. The design is timeless. Fifty years later, it still looks better than 99 percent of the cars on the road today.”

In a video interview that first aired online on CBT News on November 20, Nguyen spoke about his, well, “Broncos,” and how celebrities such as Kevin Hart, Mark Wahlberg, Jennifer Lopez, and LeBron James are owners. Nguyen told the host, Jim Fitzpatrick, that the company starts with “a modern Ford chassis, and put a vintage car on top of it. And we kept the airbags, traction control, antilock brakes, all the things that keep us safe that you don’t think about.” Vintage Modern, Nguyen said, “is the first to market with a truly modernized vehicle.” The body is new, necessitated by the fact that the Vintage Modern version has a longer wheelbase than the stubby 92-inch original Bronco.

He said in the interview that he plans to give other models the same treatment as the classic Bronco. “Our goal is to re-master some of the greatest hits of all time,” with the first new, non-Bronco model to be announced at the end of the year. Near the end, he sends people to the company website, “which is VintageBroncos.co, or to our Instagram, which is VintageBronco.” We’d wager the lawyers at Kilpatrick, Townsend & Stockton, will duly note those handles.

Despite the conflict, business is apparently good. While many of the builds are customized based on the buyer’s preferences, at the moment, he said, Vintage Modern had on hand two vehicles ready to sell, “a pink one and a black one.”

Demand, Nguyen said, “far exceeds supply.”

For how long? We’ll see.