“From what I understand, a Baja Bronco could be ordered from most any Ford dealer. The customer just had to complete the Baja Bronco order form and have the dealer put the order in. Ford would then build a semi-complete Baja Bronco and send it to Long Beach, California, for completion by Stroppe. Once Stroppe was finished with the conversion, the completed Baja Bronco was sent to the ordering dealer for customer delivery.
The Baja Broncos all started life as Sport Broncos with special paint done at the factory. The paint scheme was metallic blue on the roof, Wimbledon White from the drip rail to the beltline, and Poppy Red from the beltline down. The hood was painted semi-gloss or flat black except for the leading edge of the hood, which was painted Poppy Red to match the line where the grill and fenders meet. Additional Ford-supplied equipment consists of the Extra Cooling Package, reduced sound exhaust, and heavy duty suspension.
Ford left the rest of the conversion to Stroppe. Stroppe installed fender flares in the rear and trimmed the front fenders for clearance of the Gates Commando XT tires on either painted-steel wheels or slot mags of 8.5x15-inch size. Also included in the Baja Bronco conversion were dual shocks at each wheel, padded rollbar, rubberized steering wheel, front bumper braces, trailer hitch, and Baja Bronco tire cover and fender decals.
Perhaps the most important feature of the Baja Bronco was its powertrain options. In '71 and '72, the only way to buy a Bronco with automatic transmission and power steering was to order a Baja Bronco from Stroppe. If so ordered, Stroppe converted the early Baja Broncos to Saginaw power steering and installed a C4 automatic transmission and trans cooler. Contrary to popular belief, not all Baja Broncos were converted to automatic and power steering. However, the later Baja Broncos were all factory equipped by Ford with power steering and automatic.”
There were no 6-cylinder powered Bajas; the 302 Small-Block Ford V-8 was standard. Most Bajas were equipped with 3-speed automatic transmissions as Norton notes above, although a very few slipped out with 3-speed manual transmissions.