Member Spotlight: Greg Murray

I had the opportunity to reconnect at the Bronco Nation Basecamp in Moab with member Greg Murray and chat about his Ford connection, vehicles he owns, and his participation with Bronco Nation.

Tell me a little bit about your life history with Ford 

My father purchased a Ford store and established the Murray Ford Lincoln Mercury dealership in Dubois, PA back in 1968. I grew up and worked in that dealership, acting as the President for over 25 years. In total, the dealership was family owned for 53 years.

How many Fords have you owned during that time, do you think?

There are too many to count, and I can’t even guess. When you sell them, you drive a lot of them.

Tell me about your first Bronco

My first Bronco was a 1978 Bronco, black with chromatic stripes. I equipped it with Goodyear Wrangler RT tires and added rock lights underneath, even back in those days, we had them. It was a special vehicle. Author imagines it looked something like this one…..

You have a Bronco Sport too, what made you decide to go that route?

Well, right now we have two Bronco Sports. The first one was for my wife and is an Outer Banks. We drove it out from Pennsylvania to Las Vegas and then stopped in Moab to drive on a few trails. We were concerned that the tires were going to go flat or it might get damaged on the trails, so we also invested in a Bronco Sport Badlands.

We named the new Sport “Dusty” and I put BFG KO2’s on it. It also had the Eibach springs lift which gains an inch in the front and .7 inches in the rear. We painted it up a little bit and installed the Air Design wing spoiler on the rear. We brought it out to Moab too and took it on the trails, the most difficult one probably being Gemini Bridges. It is a neat little Bronco and did everything we asked of it. We attended the Bronco Off-Roadeo there too and since then, the vehicle has mostly been in storage. All the off-roading Dusty has done has been in Moab.

We bought the  second Bronco Sport because we loved the Outer Banks but wanted a little more off-roading capability. I spoke with some of the engineers and they mentioned that they used the Sport as a chase vehicle for the Bronco during testing and they were amazed at how capable it was. A little bit of modifications have gone a long way into making Dusty a nice little off-roader. My wife won’t give up her Outer Banks Sport and we often leave the Lincoln in the garage and drive it because it’s such a fun drive. 

What is the most recent Bronco you’ve owned?

I have a 2-door, 2024 Bronco Badlands with Sasquatch package that I towed out here to Moab for this event. It only had 30 miles on it, and now it has 232 miles, most of them off-road, as you can see from the Moab red mud badge of honor on the sides. We decided to name it “Spanky” and it has a few modifications. I added the Method wheels in Ford Performance white, a white Ford Performance bull bar, and painted the flares myself. I also invested in a Borla Sport exhaust, which gives it a really nice sound.

It performed really well on the trails here in Moab. I took it on Backwards Bill on Thursday, which was the more difficult trail offered by Bronco Nation. It was by far the hardest trail I’ve ever been on, but it walked right up Wipe Out Hill. I thought the 2-door Broncos might have trouble due to the shorter wheelbase, but everyone did well.

You’ve attended this event with Bronco Nation. Have you attended any others?

Yes, besides this trip to Moab, I attended the Bronco Sport Meet-Up in Michigan last summer. I’ve been really appreciative of everything Bronco Nation does and hope to do more events in the future. 

How did you hear about Bronco Nation?

I can’t remember how I heard about Bronco Nation but I was the Bronco Ambassador for the Ford dealership and went to the Nevada Bronco Off-Roadeo and maybe I heard about it there. I became a member a couple of years ago. Besides the events, I’ve enjoyed reading the articles and have purchased parts from the Bronco Nation store.

How many Fords do you own right now?

I think I have six. I have two Bronco Sports, a Bronco, a Maverick, an F-150, and an Aviator. I also have an application in for a Mustang GTD but I’m not holding my breath that that will come through anytime soon.

Any last thoughts?

I’m really appreciative of Bronco Nation for hosting such great events, and to my wife in letting me attend them. I have some water from Matrimony Springs here in Moab that I’m going to share with her, to intoxicate her back to Moab soon. 

Check out this story for more information about that local legend.