QOTD: Do You Think Ford Will Ruin the New Bronco?
by
Corey Lewis
January 3rd, 2018 9:00 AM
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For 2019, Ford will debut a new Ranger (1982-2011), followed the next year by a new Bronco (1966-1996). While there have been some camouflaged Rangers seen running around, Ford is not showing anybody what the new Bronco will look like.
Since they’re leaving it up to our imaginations, do you think they’re going to ace the new Bronco, or drop a big deuce?
Let’s define what both outcomes mean:
Aces: The new Bronco will feature excellent, retro-modern heritage styling much like Ford managed with the new Mustang in 2005. Though it’s unique from a styling standpoint, the Bronco will share basic underpinnings with the global/North American Ranger to save on development costs. This is the option most enthusiasts are hoping for if they have any sense. The Bronco is once again a sales hit, and receives successive generation(s) with revised styling and core characteristics intact. The Bronco legacy continues, untarnished except for that one time in June of 1994.
Deuces: The new Bronco will feature slightly modified Ranger styling (ie. Ranger with bed cap), and will be too similar overall to be a real Bronco. Heritage of prior models will not be present, save for perhaps a few retro throwback badges here and there, or a plaque on the dashboard. Ford will pillage the Bronco name to make money, while expending the smallest possible amount of capital. It’s strip mining, but for cars. At the end of the first generation the Bronco is dropped, or reduced to a trim variant of the Ranger. Perhaps it is reincarnated as a Ford Mobility bicycle or an ECOSport later on.
Point for Deuce: While it’s all well and good to be mysterious about what the new Bronco will look like, the appearance of a Ranger in camo which is just about identical to the global Ranger (see above) does not bode well for the future Bronco. If Ford didn’t spend the money to change the Ranger before bringing it over, it’s doubtful they’d do so for an even more limited model like the Bronco.
Point for Ace: The reason Ford is being so secretive is because they know they have a hit on their hands, and it’s definitely not just a global Ranger with a cap on the back (which would look suitable in any street scene in Thailand). They’ve invested too much to reveal it early, and want to catch competitors like the Wrangler and Defender off guard with their brand new bucking Bronco.
Off to you B&B, which do you think is more likely to happen here?
[Images: Ford; TTAC]
Interested in lots of cars and their various historical contexts. Writing things for TTAC since late 2016 from a home base in Cincinnati, Ohio. You can find me on Twitter @CoreyLewis86, and I also contribute at Forbes Wheels.
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What I really want it that new Canyonero Can you name the truck with four wheel drive, smells like a steak and seats thirty-five.. Canyonero! Canyonero!
The FJ Cruiser was not a true retro FJ, it was a fully-enclosed, no removeable panel, SUV lacking any of the off-road 'sport' environment that the original had. It was big, chunky and inconvenient as a purpose-built off-road vehicle. The original Bronco let you open it up much like the CJs, even when it carried that fiberglass hard top. The later full-sized models kept that ability, though the Bronco II didn't.