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my sister had a centurian.... it was a good vehicle...........

--Sherpa
 
bdkw1 said:
There were 2 companies doing them, I forget the other right now.

The roofs on those are problems waiting to happen. They bondoed the shit out of the valley transitions in the crew roofs to the smooth Bronco roof. The body flex eventually pops it loose the it's just a swimming pool under the bondo scab.

There were also 2 different WB's depending on if the were built on a F150 or F250 chassis.
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That one above claims to be a Magnum Metropolitan.
 
subybaja said:
So, it's a blue Suburban? I never really understood the point.
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You don’t understand anything obviously. Remind me, what year suburban came with a Dana 60 front axle and either a big block or turbo diesel? And what year suburban has the removable top?


FYI for the uninformed. From 1986 to 1997 Centurion and Metropolitan motors contracted to build custom conversion vehicles for Ford to sell on car lots as brand new vehicles, the party ended when the bronco went out of production after 1997. Centurion did the 250 and 350 vehicles. Metropolitan did the 150/Bronco and a lot of the 2wds. The only 500 number is total bullshit. Centurion alone made nearly 5000 3/4 and 1 ton 4 door Broncos. Metropolitan made about that many 1/2 tons. Neither of them are the greatest build quality, metro taking the cake for the shittiest roof connection.

Ford would deliver to centurion a crew cab pickup and the back half of a bronco. Centurion would shorten the wheel base on the chassis, graft the bronco onto the back of truck cab and do a custom interior to blend it all together. Ford would send a complete Bronco to Metropolitan, they would cut it in half, stretch the wheelbase and add the middle doors. So a centurion has 1 weld seam where a metropolitan has two.

Centurion also did conversion vans for Ford. Cabriolet cruisers were the van/truck hybrids that were all the rage in rodeo tow rigs. Then both centurion and eclipse did the luxury conversion vans and limousines. This is my 92/93 C350 460 1ton 4 door bronco. The suburban the GM fans wish GM would have ever built. 7.3 powerstrokes were also an option
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JR4X said:
You don’t understand anything obviously. Remind me, what year suburban came with a Dana 60 front axle and either a big block or turbo diesel? And what year suburban has the removable top?


FYI for the uninformed. From 1986 to 1997 Centurion and Metropolitan motors contracted to build custom conversion vehicles for Ford to sell on car lots as brand new vehicles, the party ended when the bronco went out of production after 1997. Centurion did the 250 and 350 vehicles. Metropolitan did the 150/Bronco and a lot of the 2wds. The only 500 number is total bullshit. Centurion alone made nearly 5000 3/4 and 1 ton 4 door Broncos. Metropolitan made about that many 1/2 tons. Neither of them are the greatest build quality, metro taking the cake for the shittiest roof connection.

Ford would deliver to centurion a crew cab pickup and the back half of a bronco. Centurion would shorten the wheel base on the chassis, graft the bronco onto the back of truck cab and do a custom interior to blend it all together. Ford would send a complete Bronco to Metropolitan, they would cut it in half, stretch the wheelbase and add the middle doors. So a centurion has 1 weld seam where a metropolitan has two.

Centurion also did conversion vans for Ford. Cabriolet cruisers were the van/truck hybrids that were all the rage in rodeo tow rigs. Then both centurion and eclipse did the luxury conversion vans and limousines. This is my 92/93 C350 460 1ton 4 door bronco. The suburban the GM fans wish GM would have ever built. 7.3 powerstrokes were also an option
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Thanks for the info- I didn't know anything about them, other than the extra door. That's pretty interesting.

I wonder how that came to happen? Seems like a weird deal for a manufacturer to sign off on.
 
JR4X said:
You don’t understand anything obviously. Remind me, what year suburban came with a Dana 60 front axle and either a big block or turbo diesel? And what year suburban has the removable top?


FYI for the uninformed. From 1986 to 1997 Centurion and Metropolitan motors contracted to build custom conversion vehicles for Ford to sell on car lots as brand new vehicles, the party ended when the bronco went out of production after 1997. Centurion did the 250 and 350 vehicles. Metropolitan did the 150/Bronco and a lot of the 2wds. The only 500 number is total bullshit. Centurion alone made nearly 5000 3/4 and 1 ton 4 door Broncos. Metropolitan made about that many 1/2 tons. Neither of them are the greatest build quality, metro taking the cake for the shittiest roof connection.

Ford would deliver to centurion a crew cab pickup and the back half of a bronco. Centurion would shorten the wheel base on the chassis, graft the bronco onto the back of truck cab and do a custom interior to blend it all together. Ford would send a complete Bronco to Metropolitan, they would cut it in half, stretch the wheelbase and add the middle doors. So a centurion has 1 weld seam where a metropolitan has two.

Centurion also did conversion vans for Ford. Cabriolet cruisers were the van/truck hybrids that were all the rage in rodeo tow rigs. Then both centurion and eclipse did the luxury conversion vans and limousines. This is my 92/93 C350 460 1ton 4 door bronco. The suburban the GM fans wish GM would have ever built. 7.3 powerstrokes were also an option
image.jpg
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That thing would look real good sitting in my driveway next to my 94 6.5 Turbo Diesel Blazer with the same paint scheme.

2E9AB1EA-8572-481F-A7EB-9D9191852FA1.png
 
subybaja said:
Thanks for the info- I didn't know anything about them, other than the extra door. That's pretty interesting.

I wonder how that came to happen? Seems like a weird deal for a manufacturer to sign off on.
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I’ll do my best to explain. There is a glitch in my knowledge which I’ll mention in a minute.

Supposedly somehow in the 60’s GM got a patent for 3 and 4 door body on frame passenger vehicles. That was before the moniker “SUV” existed. That’s why suburbans and S-10 blazers had 4 doors when explorers could only be 2 door. XJ’s snuck in since they were unibody. That’s why the 4door explorers and 4door Durango’s came out the same year, that’s when the patent was up. The glitch in that explanation are International Travelall’s, I haven’t read an explanation for those.

Fords legal work around was a limited amount of custom conversion vehicles per year. They already had centurion on the payroll doing vans from 1980 to 1986 before they added the 4 door bronco to the list. Then ran that till the last bronco rolled off the assembly line in 1997. 1998 was the re-tool year before superduty’s and Expeditions came out in 1999. There are no 1998 f250/f350 pickups. They already had the “Taurus” body style 1/2 tons in production beginning 1996. Which was technically the last year for the OBS style. Centurion was always a year behind. So the most desirable Centurions are the 1997 C350 powerstroke ZF-5 speed trucks. The date of manufacture on mine is 1992 but the title says it’s a 1993.
 
Broncokyle88 said:
Ever take it off any sweet jumps?
:flipoff2:

Does it have that horrible wood grain plastered everywhere in the interior?

I had the opportunity to buy a c250 10 years ago for $2k. I passed on it because I didn’t feel like fixing the roof. Spent the money on beer instead. I still kick myself over that one.
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I did jump mine on accident once and it didn’t end well. Thought I was blasting into a snow berm but it was solid ice. So instead of mushing into snow like I expected I smashed into an ice wall bending the tie rods and making all the plastic interior parts crack and rattle. Yes it has a bunch of shitty wood parts in it. The worst part of it is the wood interior stuff.
 
JR4X said:
I’ll do my best to explain. There is a glitch in my knowledge which I’ll mention in a minute.

Supposedly somehow in the 60’s GM got a patent for 3 and 4 door body on frame passenger vehicles. That was before the moniker “SUV” existed. That’s why suburbans and S-10 blazers had 4 doors when explorers could only be 2 door. XJ’s snuck in since they were unibody. That’s why the 4door explorers and 4door Durango’s came out the same year, that’s when the patent was up. The glitch in that explanation are International Travelall’s, I haven’t read an explanation for those.

Fords legal work around was a limited amount of custom conversion vehicles per year. They already had centurion on the payroll doing vans from 1980 to 1986 before they added the 4 door bronco to the list. Then ran that till the last bronco rolled off the assembly line in 1997. 1998 was the re-tool year before superduty’s and Expeditions came out in 1999. There are no 1998 f250/f350 pickups. They already had the “Taurus” body style 1/2 tons in production beginning 1996. Which was technically the last year for the OBS style. Centurion was always a year behind. So the most desirable Centurions are the 1997 C350 powerstroke ZF-5 speed trucks. The date of manufacture on mine is 1992 but the title says it’s a 1993.
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Wasnt the 60s -70s wagoneer a 4 door body on frame passenger vehicle? Not to mention all of the early station wagons. I think the patent story is an urban legend. The probable reason is that chevy had the market locked up with the suburban and both ford and dodge didnt want to spend the money to break into a limited market.
 
Stuck said:
Wasnt the 60s -70s wagoneer a 4 door body on frame passenger vehicle? Not to mention all of the early station wagons. I think the patent story is an urban legend. The probable reason is that chevy had the market locked up with the suburban and both ford and dodge didnt want to spend the money to break into a limited market.
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Yep, forgot about waggy’s with the travelall’s. Both body on frame 4 door light trucks. Station wagons don’t count because they are in a different class. The suburban is a LT not a car. Supposedly that was the hang up. Like you said, probably urban legend. Ford and dodge both didn’t have a production 4 door LT till 1993. I can’t find any written literature to support the claim. The 4doorbronco.com forum website is long gone that claimed such.
 
JR4X said:
You don’t understand anything obviously. Remind me, what year suburban came with a Dana 60 front axle and either a big block or turbo diesel? And what year suburban has the removable top?


FYI for the uninformed. From 1986 to 1997 Centurion and Metropolitan motors contracted to build custom conversion vehicles for Ford to sell on car lots as brand new vehicles, the party ended when the bronco went out of production after 1997. Centurion did the 250 and 350 vehicles. Metropolitan did the 150/Bronco and a lot of the 2wds. The only 500 number is total bullshit. Centurion alone made nearly 5000 3/4 and 1 ton 4 door Broncos. Metropolitan made about that many 1/2 tons. Neither of them are the greatest build quality, metro taking the cake for the shittiest roof connection.

Ford would deliver to centurion a crew cab pickup and the back half of a bronco. Centurion would shorten the wheel base on the chassis, graft the bronco onto the back of truck cab and do a custom interior to blend it all together. Ford would send a complete Bronco to Metropolitan, they would cut it in half, stretch the wheelbase and add the middle doors. So a centurion has 1 weld seam where a metropolitan has two.

Centurion also did conversion vans for Ford. Cabriolet cruisers were the van/truck hybrids that were all the rage in rodeo tow rigs. Then both centurion and eclipse did the luxury conversion vans and limousines. This is my 92/93 C350 460 1ton 4 door bronco. The suburban the GM fans wish GM would have ever built. 7.3 powerstrokes were also an option
image.jpg
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I want to buy that, not the fucked up shit they are building now.
 
Add said:
That's about 8000 more than I'm willing to spend
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I paid $6,100 cash for mine with 52,000 actual miles on it off the Ford lot. Had been garage kept. Grandparents traded it in on a new Focus for their grand daughter to take to college. My ex worked at the dealership so I just happened to be on the lot when they rolled it out of detail looking brand new. I got it for $100 over invoice.

I have devalued T-F out of it since then.
 
JR4X said:
I paid $6,100 cash for mine with 52,000 actual miles on it off the Ford lot. Had been garage kept. Grandparents traded it in on a new Focus for their grand daughter to take to college. My ex worked at the dealership so I just happened to be on the lot when they rolled it out of detail looking brand new. I got it for $100 over invoice.

I have devalued T-F out of it since then.
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I have a special gift of being able to make gold worth the price of lead.:laughing:
 
JR4X said:
I’ll do my best to explain. There is a glitch in my knowledge which I’ll mention in a minute.

Supposedly somehow in the 60’s GM got a patent for 3 and 4 door body on frame passenger vehicles. That was before the moniker “SUV” existed. That’s why suburbans and S-10 blazers had 4 doors when explorers could only be 2 door. XJ’s snuck in since they were unibody. That’s why the 4door explorers and 4door Durango’s came out the same year, that’s when the patent was up. The glitch in that explanation are International Travelall’s, I haven’t read an explanation for those.

Fords legal work around was a limited amount of custom conversion vehicles per year. They already had centurion on the payroll doing vans from 1980 to 1986 before they added the 4 door bronco to the list. Then ran that till the last bronco rolled off the assembly line in 1997. 1998 was the re-tool year before superduty’s and Expeditions came out in 1999. There are no 1998 f250/f350 pickups. They already had the “Taurus” body style 1/2 tons in production beginning 1996. Which was technically the last year for the OBS style. Centurion was always a year behind. So the most desirable Centurions are the 1997 C350 powerstroke ZF-5 speed trucks. The date of manufacture on mine is 1992 but the title says it’s a 1993.
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Jeep had a 4 door suv since the 60s. International, too.
 
I believe even GM considers the 1500 burb is actually considered a passenger vehicle.
 
M92PV4U said:
I have a special gift of being able to make gold worth the price of lead.:laughing:
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I too have that uncanny ability. Centurions and Metropolitans are both known for needing roof repairs from sitting out in the weather. Mine didn’t when I came into possession of it. I wasn’t able to keep it in a garage like the original owner so it now needs the roof redone.
 
JR4X said:
I paid $6,100 cash for mine with 52,000 actual miles on it off the Ford lot. Had been garage kept. Grandparents traded it in on a new Focus for their grand daughter to take to college. My ex worked at the dealership so I just happened to be on the lot when they rolled it out of detail looking brand new. I got it for $100 over invoice.

I have devalued T-F out of it since then.
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I'll give ya $2500 for it right now :grinpimp:
 
Whats up with the 70’s crew cab Fords? Seems like they usually need roof skins also, I assumed they were conversions done by someone besides Ford
 
4Eyedturd said:
Whats up with the 70’s crew cab Fords? Seems like they usually need roof skins also, I assumed they were conversions done by someone besides Ford
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The inside of the roof skin has real thin paint and some areas that there's just no way they got a good coat of paint at all. The roof cancer happens to all of them regardless of how many doors they have. Truck eventually develops a water leak into the cab, that water condenses on the inside of the roof skin and sits in all these hard to reach spots like right at the pinch weld in the top of the windshield frame, and just eats it from the inside out. I had to rebuild some of the windshield frame on my '76, some of the holes doubled or tripled in size before I found metal I could weld the patch to.
 
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