Ford C-150/C-350 Centurion: It Exists

Ford C-150/C-350 Centurion: It Exists

I recently learned about the Ford C-150 and C-350 Centurion from a reader. It’s good that I didn’t know about it before, because I probably would’ve purchased one, and then complained when it drove like crap.

Although there isn’t much info on the Web about these cars, here’s what I’ve gathered. Centurion is a coachbuilder in Michigan. The Ford Bronco is a vehicle. Are you with me so far?

In the mid-1990s, Ford only made a two-door Bronco. This satisfied most Bronco buyers, such as OJ Simpson. But there was apparently public demand for a four-door version, which is where Centurion came in. They would buy Broncos from Ford, stretch them, and add doors.

The result was the Centurion C-150 and the Centurion C-350. The 150 was, of course, light duty, while the 350 was the heavy-duty model. They all had three rows. Apparently there were also Centurion F-150s, but I can’t find any information about them, largely because “FourDoorBronco.com” – agreed to be the web’s number one source of information about these trucks – is down for maintenance.

Personally, I find the Centurion trucks rather handsome in a “I’ve never seen this before and it doesn’t look bad” sort of way. Ford probably did too, because the Bronco died in 1996 and the Expedition came out in 1997, thus killing the Centurion forever.

Today, Centurion’s website is down and the trucks only exist with inoperable transmissions on faraway Craigslists.

-@DougDeMuro

12 Responses to “ “Ford C-150/C-350 Centurion: It Exists”

  1. Ltd783 says:

    I haven’t seen one in a while, but I always thought these were the coolest. I believe Centurion made 6 door conversion pickups, and crew cabs with an added on extended cab portion too. My dad had an F150 in this bodystyle, extended cab, for about a decade. I used to dream about him having anything bigger than that awful backseat to be crammed in.

    I’ve never seen this company written up on a English speaking website, but they’ve made about every permutation of a Ford truck you could imagine last 20 years. My favorite is the “Tropiclassic” F250 Sedan with a trunk.

    http://www.tropicalcabines.com.br/

  2. Sean says:

    There’s your long term used “car” tester right there!

    I still see one or two of these on occasion here in Iowa.

  3. Lenn says:

    I am the webmaster for F150forum(dot)com and I know that a few of my members have the Centurion F150′s. I’ve seen a few of those in person but never a Bronco rendition.

  4. Piston Slap Yo Mama says:

    Interesting website down or lonnnng since vanished? Go to the Wayback Machine, a backup copy of most everything on the internet, some of it as far back as the late 90′s: http://www.archive.org

    Your Centurion site: http://web.archive.org/web/20130528101947/http://fourdoorbronco.com/

    I tend to Wayback old CNN pages, especially those that predate the events of Sept 2001 and long for the days when the Dow promised never-ending ROI and we only worried about shark attacks (?) and stem cell research.

    Sigh.

  5. BeardedOnion says:

    There used to be a few C150s in my area and I always had a thing for them, but after reading about Ezra Dyer having a 7.3 PowerStroke put in a full sized Bronco (link), I’d started searching adhuntr for C350s. Oh the money I could spend…

  6. Livermoron says:

    Along the same topic – http://www.customautosbytim.com/ – 6 door Excursions, 2011 Excursions, and others

  7. bk31 says:

    I see one of these beauties 5 days a week at my office here in Roswell, GA. My coworker uses it as his daily driver. We jokingly call it the “Family Monster Truckster” due in part to its sickly 90′s Ford shade of not quite forest green paint and the fact we have to climb over car seats and ride in the third row if we ever have to go anywhere with him.

  8. Brian says:

    There is one I see every time I pass through Moriarty New Mexico by the Lisa Truck Plaza, its a C-350 even got some pics of it

  9. Chris says:

    I have one and it drives perfect I don’t care what anyone says about it. I use it to get the Excursion free when it gets stuck. The truck was built to haul down the road its so smooth just like riding a train. But I have a lot more info on them then the bronco website I talked with past and current(yes current) employees but Centurion made 8 different body styles for ford not just the 4 door bronco but most people never knew they drove a Centurion because they came with stock badges. If you want to know more just ask I love sharing info that no one can seem to find, not gonna lie it took me months of calling and talking to dead ends only to find the truth!

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