The 2021 Ford Bronco – We Touched It!

Literally the moment I got back from an epic cross-country journey in my JK Wrangler, the 2021 Ford Bronco shows up and starts sliding into my DMs.

If you read through that recent feature, you’ll witness a man slowly falling more and more in love with his Jeep. The JK did everything I needed it to do. Except crack 20 mpg. Or leave a single bug alive in Kansas. But other than that, it followed a lifted JL Rubicon through Texas mud, it blitzed through the American highway system at well over 80 mph, and it conquered Moab (‘s light off-road trails). But I’ve got a secret. I love Ford’s, and the idea of Ford making a Wrangler competitor has been on lightin’ up my board for awhile now.

So, when my friendly Ford rep recently sent me a note asking if I wanted to come see the new Bronco, well, that resulted in a serious half, to full, chub.

What you see before you isn’t a concept. Even though it’s fresh off of the morning TV show circuit, It’s not a prettyfied twice-waxed press loaner. It’s a legit pre-production prototype Bronco that has been ridden hard and put away wet. The Ford rep noted several times that the interior isn’t final, but the rest is. And it’s glorious. To the rep’s knowledge, this was the only press event happening at the moment.

OK, you want to see it, I know.

I’ll have to give some more detailed thoughts about Jeep vs. Bronco at a later date. I need to check out the 4-door since that’s what I would likely purchase. I’ve had way too many bourbons for tonight and may have spent some some money on Quadratec.com and reached out to my local Ford dealer. OK, both of those things happened in the last 24 hours.

Stay tuned, I’m having a crisis.

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14 responses to “The 2021 Ford Bronco – We Touched It!”

  1. danleym Avatar
    danleym

    It’s hard to dislike them. I’ve never been a Ford fan, no real reason- just never got excited by much of their recent stuff, but this is pretty cool.

    At the same time, I don’t see myself ditching my TJ for one.

    1. William Byrd Avatar

      How many more payments on the TJ? haha j/k You could have both! 🙂

  2. outback_ute Avatar
    outback_ute

    Well done William

    1. William Byrd Avatar

      Thank you! It was a nice outing. Fun to see all the kids coming in from boating lessons going “wait what, is that a Bronco?”

  3. Zentropy Avatar
    Zentropy

    Jealous!

    Where I come from, automobile brand loyalty is very much a thing. I grew up in a hybrid Ford/AMC-Jeep family and have owned two CJ-7s, an SJ Cherokee, a J-10 pickup, and two Ford pickups. The Wrangler and Gladiator have provided plenty of temptation lately, but the Bronco has now taken the top spot on my “desirable-daily-drivers-when-I-retire-the-minivan” list.

    I’m wholly smitten. Make mine a manual-shifting four-door Black Diamond with steelies, thank you.

    1. William Byrd Avatar

      As a Wrangler owner and Ford fan, I’m definitely interested. Still waiting on my JK trade-in numbers from my dealer friend. Not expecting much, I imagine it’ll be a bit less than the $26,XXX that I owe.

  4. SeattleCurmudgeon Avatar
    SeattleCurmudgeon

    It will be available with a 7-speed manual- 1st is compound low. Well done, Ford.
    BUT…
    The manual is only available with the low-spec 4 cylinder. This will limit sales, and the bean-counters will assume the market doesn’t want the manual. Expect that option to disappear after a couple of years. FAIL.

    1. Tiberiuswise Avatar

      Like the Lincoln LS’s manual all over again? On paper I agree, but…. I’ve driven a Mustang, Explorer, and Ranger all with the 2.3 EB. It’s plenty of motor.

  5. HuntRhymesWith Avatar
    HuntRhymesWith

    Looks cool. I like those tie-down eyelets behind the headlights, and the bronco badge is killer. I hope these don’t get totally transformered-out like how some modified Jeeps and all the new electric powertools are.

    1. William Byrd Avatar

      They definitely will. I’m sure someone is working on Bronco angry-eye stick on plastic “mods” as we speak.

      I’m stealing “transformered-out” btw. haha

      1. Vairship Avatar
        Vairship

        I’m not in the market, but if I bought one I’d remove the B R O N C O from the grille and replace it with B A Z I N G A just to see who would notice.

  6. MattC Avatar
    MattC

    I am genuinely interested in the new Bronco. I would ideally spec out a 2 door Base with the 7 speed manual ( the 2.3L Ecoboost is a decent engine and more than enough for my needs) . Plus I dig the steelies.

  7. Sjalabais Avatar
    Sjalabais

    I’ve never really understood the Wrangler. To my mind, it’s the American Buchanka: Very capable offroad, but also a total crapcan. In contrast to the UAZ, it is 5? 6? 7? times more expensive though. When I see those, it’s usually the Arctic Trucks pimped variant, with some stupid slogan printed on it. Tiny interior, large footprint, awful fuel consumption. Ford can only do better. Case in point:
    https://i.ibb.co/rkm1qMB/IMG-20200718-013510.jpg

    1. Vairship Avatar
      Vairship

      It’s largely an image thing. Most Wranglers never go farther than the school run. I’d imagine if you were a hard-core offroader it would make more sense to buy one used because you’ll strip the suspension and parts of the drive line anyway, why pay as-new price for those? And why bash up a brand-new Wrangler if you can bash up a half-priced one?

      A new one only makes sense if you do a fair bit of not-heavy-duty offroading (so you keep it stock but don’t scratch it up too badly) mixed with everyday driving. Hopefully not too much freeway driving, because high center of gravity and short wheelbase mean terrible moose-maneuver performance: either the stability software doesn’t work and you roll over, or the stability software prevents the roll-over by refusing to allow you to steer around the moose.

      But you sit high up so it “feels safe”.