t seems like Chevrolet spent much of the 1960s playing catchup. Caught flatfooted by the overwhelming success of Ford’s Mustang it took Chevy nearly three years to build their own sporty compact to compete. But even before the pony car wars began, another battleground was brewing. Jeep had dominated the passenger-carrying 4x4 market throughout the 1950s, and in 1961 it was joined—with surprising success—by International Harvester’s Scout. Ford and Chevy both took immediate note and started working up concepts for small 4x4s to compete. When the Mustang began raking in cash for Ford, it decided to use some of those profits to bring its other equine-themed project—the Bronco—to market for 1966. Meanwhile, Chevy was
