Vic Hickey

The tough-looking dude on the left is Vic Hickey. The equally tough-looking dude on the right, the late Bill Stroppe. Behind them, their respective weapons: the Hickey K/5 Blazer versus the Stroppe Baja Bronco. And this was long before MT initiated Sport/Utility of the Year. Hickey and Stroppe are each off-roading legends in their own right. The former generally preferred to work his magic on Chevys; the latter was inextricably identified with Ford for nearly 50 years. The friendly bickering between these two competitors, as recounted in our Feb. '72 story, "Friendly Hostility," was laced with barbed wire: Vic accusing Bill of illegally swapping in a 351-cu-in. V-8 in place of the Bronco's stock 302 and Stroppe chastising Hickey over an abundant use of chrome on the Blazer.

While there are many tunerized sport/utilities out there today carrying $75K pricetags, these rigs could be had for a tenth of that: just $7463 for the Bronco and only $15 more bought you the Blazer. Associate Editor Chuck Koch declared the Blazer the winner based on roominess, cabin comfort, and stronger brakes-but noted the Bronco was indeed the better off-roader. Any way you slice it, it's just a different twist on, and another round of, Chevy versus Ford.-Matt Stone