For years, Troy Howell’s orange-and-blue Ford Bronco was part vehicle, part Boise State tailgate centerpiece.
It was hand-painted, covered in Boise State logos and colors but not particularly reliable. Sometimes, simply getting it to the stadium was part of the experience.
More than a decade after Howell died from pancreatic cancer in 2013, his family is rebuilding the “Bronco Bronco” from the frame up with hopes of bringing it back to the Boise State tailgates where it became part of his legacy.
For Howell’s family, restoring the Bronco means preserving more than an old vehicle. It means giving his children and grandchildren something tangible that connects them to the man who once drove it to games.
Carl Augustus, Howell’s son-in-law, is helping lead the restoration alongside his wife, Cheryl Howell.
“It represents home,” Augustus said. “It’s the connection that everybody who has been a fan for a while tends to associate as just a classic part of being from the valley.”
Augustus said the family plans to strip the Bronco down to its frame, replace major mechanical components and recreate the original paint scheme as closely as possible.
The Bronco tradition began more than two decades ago with Howell and his longtime friends Ricky Tollis and Richie Hill.
Tollis already owned a Ford Bronco when he came up with the idea to decorate the vehicle with Boise State logos and colors, turning it into the aptly named “Bronco Bronco.” He brought the idea to Howell and Hill, and eventually inspired another Boise State themed Bronco owned by Howell.
“I called Richie and Troy and told them that I wanted to do it with my Bronco because I had the Bronco for several years,” Tollis said.
They arrived early for home games, cooked food and spent hours with friends before kickoff. Tollis remembers buying large packages of tri-tip, marinating them the night before and cooking at the stadium before heading inside.
The Broncos eventually became as much a part of the gathering as the food.
“The tailgates were lively,” Tollis said. “There would be people stopping by just to hang out and check out the Bronco.”
Howell’s Bronco reflected his personality as much as his fandom.
His nephew, Jacob Howell, remembers it as anything but a polished showpiece. It regularly needed work and sometimes struggled just to make it to the tailgate lot.
“It never ran very well,” Jacob said. “It could barely make it there. It was constantly breaking down, but it could make it long enough to get to the tailgate.”
Howell painted much of the Bronco himself, including Boise State logos and other small details scattered throughout the vehicle. Jacob said the imperfections were part of what made it memorable.
That same personality carried into the stadium.
During Boise State games in the late 1990s and early 2000s, tortillas occasionally became part of the crowd antics, with fans tossing them from the stands toward the field. Howell joined in, and Jacob remembers his uncle managing to send one all the way to midfield.
Some of his strongest childhood memories came from attending games with Troy, his father and their friends, then spending time around the tailgate before kickoff.
Today, Jacob works for Boise State Athletics, giving him another connection to the university his uncle spent years supporting.
After Troy’s death, the Bronco eventually left the Howell family. Over the next decade, it changed hands and spent seven years with Boise State University before Cheryl located it and brought it back into the family.
By then, years of sitting had taken a toll. Augustus said the interior has been removed, the engine is being replaced and the electrical system still needs work. He estimates the cost of the full restoration could approach $20,000.
The family plans to preserve Troy’s original design rather than modernize it.
“We’ll redo the paint job, but it’ll be the exact same design,” Augustus said.
One new addition will connect the Bronco directly to the place it once visited on Saturdays.
After Boise State replaced the blue turf at Albertsons Stadium, the family received a 5-foot-by-5-foot piece. Augustus plans to use it as carpet in the rear of the Bronco.
The project has also created a way for younger members of the family to learn about Troy.
Augustus said his 8-year-old son already knows the Boise State call-and-response and refers to Howell as “Papa Troy.” He is now old enough to start helping with parts of the restoration.
The family hopes the finished Bronco will return to Boise State tailgates, bringing it back to the place where Troy created many of the memories tied to it. Tollis also plans to restore his own Boise State-themed Bronco.
If both projects are completed, he already knows how he wants to celebrate.
“We’ll have to park them nose to nose,” Tollis said, “and start forming the tailgating tradition again.”
