BACK IN BLACK

WE STILL CAN'T BUY A NEW FORD BRONCO IN AUSTRALIA SO WE HEADED TO THE USA TO SEE WHAT WE'RE MISSING OUT ON. WE CAME BACK WANTING IT EVEN MORE

- MARK BOXER

WITHIN 10km of driving the 2022 Ford Bronco, I had to ask: "Why the hell isn't Ford bringing these to Australia?"

Let's be honest, Ford can't go wrong with any 4x4 riding on the T6 platform at the moment, and the Bronco would complement the Ranger and Everest models in Australia as being a better off-road and lifestyle alternative.

I must admit I was a little disappointed when the kind lady at the counter at LAX handed me the keys to the big red Bronco Black Diamond, as I was expecting a Bronco Raptor for this drive. While the Raptor is the off-road hero of the Bronco model range with its 37-inch tyres, lockers and 3.0-litre V6 engine, the Black Diamond version was much lower and slimmer than the Raptor which would have been a rather tight fit in the hotel car park.

The plan for the Bronco was to do a road trip that would be every car junkie's dream run to the SEMA show in Las Vegas and, Raptor or not, this Bronco would get the job done. So after three days of seeing the sights around LA, I jumped in the car and headed east.

The drive from LA to Vegas takes about a five hours on the highway. With some stops, I was able to take in some of the scenery as well as check out some very cool and interesting vehicles that were also heading in the same direction.

Being a soft-top, the Bronco did have some road and wind noise, but that's really unavoidable when there isn't a sheet of metal separating you from the sky. The Bronco does come with a hardtop option, but this particular model not only has a fully removable roof, but you can also unbolt the doors completely and the process is very simple. If you check out the Bronco section of the Ford website, there's nothing short of seven different options for soft- and hardtop variants. Nobody is going home unhappy with their choice!