The Ford Bronco is back. The sixth generation of Ford’s original SUV is filling today’s American motorist with nostalgia for a vehicle made infamous by the world’s slowest high-speed chase, the compelling televised 60-mile 1994 “chase” of O.J. Simpson in his vintage white example.
So, what does that event have to do with Amish Country? The nostalgia for these boxy mini trucks is also felt here, with one especially notable entry. Zook’s Bronco Barn is a niche mechanic, restoring vintage 60’s and 70’s Ford Broncos to showroom quality and shine. The man turning the wrench? He’ll never turn the key.
Zook’s Bronco Barn is owned and operated by its founder, Amos Zook. He is a member-in-good-standing of the Old Order Amish here in Lancaster County. Meaning of course that he does not drive cars, but rather uses a horse-and-carriage as his daily driver. How does an Amish man become a sought-after nationwide expert on fixing and restoring a classic American automobile?
It’s a bit of a long story, but not totally unpredictable. Everyone that is born into the Amish community still has to decide whether or not to join the church. Nobody is automatically Amish. Beginning at age 16, Amish youth enter the phase of life where they need to decide whether or not to be baptized. Baptism means taking on the membership of the Amish church and vowing to uphold its tenets and “Ordnung” – guidelines for daily life and conduct. Amos Zook was in this “rumspringa” phase very clearly longer, and more broadly in the sense of “worldly” experiences, than your typical Amish person, but it was during this time outside the bounds of the community that he discovered the Ford Bronco.
While taking road trips (it is not unheard of for Amish boys to get their driver’s license while in “Rumspringa”) coast-to-coast, Amos Zook came across the Ford Bronco and immediately fell in love. What started with one beat-up Bronco, which he took apart down to the bolts and rebuilt piece by piece, soon became two, three, eight, etc. At first, he rarely spent more than $800 on any one Bronco, but as his hobby grew, so too did his stockpile of parts and partial vehicles.
As his hobby grew, he was still working full-time. Nights and weekends were his playtime with the Broncos. Removing rust, rebuilding engines, and reanimating parts into the wee hours. At one point, his wife finally asked him why he didn’t just make the Bronco hobby his full-time obsession (and business) rather than constantly be pining for those hunks of metal when stuck at work.
And so, Zook’s Bronco Barn was born. The barn where his horses used to eat and sleep was now where he performed miraculous transformations on the classic decade of Ford Broncos. His “Barn” has been churning out fully restored Broncos for over 10 years now. While people might joke about the Bronco being his baby, in 2016 he and his wife welcomed a son into their lives, and with the arrival of his flesh-and-blood bundle of joy, he decided it was time to officially return to his roots and he joined the Amish church about five years ago.
When he started restoring Broncos, it was just a way to get a dead vehicle back on the road again, but today his shop is sought out for entire restorations, making this classic American SUV sparkle like the day it rolled off the Ford manufacturing line. Depending on the options and whim of the owner, a Zook’s rebuild can cost anywhere from $40,000 to $100,000 (or more.) Customers are involved in each step of the way, deciding what accents, colors, options, and choices they want. Amos Zook’s backlog of orders keeps growing, so even though there’s no website, no fancy waiting room, and no Reality TV show, his highly specialized shop keeps cranking, one word-of-mouth referral at a time.
— Clinton Martin