At the time of writing, there has actually been very little released about the upcoming 2021 Ford Bronco. We know that the world premiere of the bucking Bronco is coming in spring 2020, according to the Ford website, but we’re not really sure when exactly in the springtime that will be. However, with a lot of photos, and even a video or two, being released, we can speculate to our heart’s content about what we hope we’ll be seeing with the all-new Bronco. And speculate we will. Overall, though, there has been a decent amount of information released, and with what we’ve been able to piece together from everything that’s out there, it’s all coming together quite nicely.
The History
If you don’t know much about the Bronco, you can be forgiven, but just this once. Really, though, it’s been 24 years since we saw the fifth-generation Bronco buck off the production line for the last time, so it’s not a surprise if it hasn’t exactly been on your radar, or ever was in the first place. To put that into relative terms, many readers out there were living in a completely different world at the time (if you were even born yet). Dolly the sheep was cloned in Scotland. Major League Soccer started its first season. Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible (the first one) was in theaters. And Bill Clinton was re-elected. If that seems like a long time ago, well, it was.
Still, there are plenty of fans out there that remember the classic Bronco that started all the way back in the 1960s. It had round headlights, rugged tires, and great color schemes that are completely nostalgic these days. Plus, although it was a 2-door vehicle, there seemed to be enough room for the whole family, especially if you were lugging a little trailer behind you. And if you were headed off on an adventure, the Bronco was known for its legendary off-road capabilities. In fact, the original Bronco, model year 1966, was introduced to compete with the Jeep CJ-5, the direct ancestor of the modern Jeep Wrangler.
The 1966 Ford Bronco had a definite box-like look to it, and, yet, it was quite charming. A lot of vehicles had box-like qualities back in that time period, but looking back at the Bronco, the boxiness isn’t off-putting. Rather, you imagine it would be quite the style that would appeal to people today. As SUVs continue to be produced at an alarming rate, the differences in exterior styling are becoming less obvious. At times, it’s difficult to tell what manufacturer a vehicle is from because there are so many with stylistic similarities. Bring back a big and bold SUV with very distinct features, and you’re looking at a potentially large stream of consumers that would be looking to gobble it up. Just like with apparel, the vehicle you drive needs to be as unique as you are and show off your personality.
The Bronco sold well when it was initially released and continued to sell well, but then its sales started to decline as people looked for more pavement-friendly options when it came to SUVs. Today, though, would anyone even want a big SUV that is built for the off-road, but can still function on the highway? Yes, actually, just about everyone wants one of those. If you didn’t know, Jeep Wranglers are an extremely popular SUV option, and not just for those rock-climbing enthusiasts out there. Since the 4-door Jeep Wrangler Unlimited was released over 10 years ago, it has risen to become the most popular type of Wrangler out there. And you can bet that a lot of those drivers are mainly using their Wrangler to just drive around town and do their daily errands. However, for those rare times when the family gets to go on a little off-road adventure, there’s nothing better to have than a Wrangler. But what if there was something that could compete?
What We Want to See
To be honest, we want to see a genuine competitor for the Jeep Wrangler. That’s not to say there’s anything wrong with having a Wrangler because there really isn’t. We just like to see healthy competition. And if the upcoming 2021 Ford Bronco, an old-school classic reimagined, can provide that challenge, then who are we to complain?
As was mentioned, there have been photos released of the new Bronco being put through various tests, which is always nice to see. The unfortunate bit is that the Broncos we’re seeing are completely covered in camouflage, so we don’t know exactly what we’re looking at. Still, the internet is full of handy sleuths that can sniff around with the best of them. If you look at some of the photos, you’ll see the general shape of the Bronco is what we’re looking for. We want the big, boxy exterior that’s a callback to the original 1966 version. The round headlights have been spotted, which is completely ideal. Also, from recent photos of a more rugged version of the Bronco, we see off-road tires, a full-size spare mounted to the back gate, and other designs (like a lifted suspension) that tell us we might be getting that adventure vehicle we’ve been looking for.
As should be common sense by now, just look at the Wrangler as an example, there will be both 2-door and 4-door variants. This is great because the 2-door option is how the original was always seen, but the 4-door option is the modern alternative we also need. It’s nice to have options. We also like the square taillights and a third taillight resting on top of the spare tire.
The video released by Ford on their YouTube channel has high-intensity music and is fun to watch, but it’s not necessarily anywhere near the actual Bronco we’ll be seeing soon enough. Still, it helps to build the hype if nothing else. And the hype is everything right now. What kinds of details are you going to be looking for in the new Bronco? It would be tough for Ford to mess anything up so terribly with their upcoming SUV that we wouldn’t want anything to do with it, so we’re just going to assume they can’t, and everything will work out perfectly.
The Wrap Up
Basically, with the 2021 Ford Bronco, we want to see something as close to the original as possible, but with all the modern amenities we crave and desire. I’m looking at you, Bluetooth, and, of course, you too, USB ports and large, beautiful displays. We definitely want the removable doors and roof panels, the rugged frame, off-road capabilities, and a decent engine. If Ford can include some kind of callback to the original in the form of classic color options, that would be really amazing. We didn’t know we needed a little brother to the new Bronco as well, but since Ford told us there would be one, well, now we need it, too. We also hear there may be a hybrid version planned, which is quite interesting.
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