FORWARD INTO THE PAST

THE NEW BRONCO IS MORE THAN NOSTALGIA. IT DELIVERS THE GOODS. ANYWHERE.

- JONNY LIEBERMAN & FRANK MARKUS

Thunderclouds threaten as our group stands in the middle of Johnson Valley OHV Area, looking at two pre-production 2021 Ford Broncos. One is a Cactus Gray four-door Badlands hardtop, but we can’t take our eyes off the Cyber Orange two-door, Black Diamond, with the removable roof fully removed. It looks utterly fabulous.

A concept car come to life, driven straight off the auto show stand to an off-road paradise known for King of the Hammers. The consensus: Ford is gonna sell a million of these things. The Bronco—especially the papaya-colored small fry—just looks right on.

Design

This new truck, available in two- or four-door styles, resembles the old first-generation Bronco from the ’60s and ’70s without being slavish. The 2021 Bronco is fresh, futuristic, fun. It looks like a kid’s toy you want to pick up and play with.

Size-wise, the two-door is 6.9 inches longer than the equivalent Jeep Wrangler on a 3.6-inch longer wheelbase, while the four-door is an inch longer on a 2.3-inch shorter wheelbase. The Broncos are 2.1 inches wider and 0.7 inch lower, and they offer similar head- and legroom with more shoulder- and hip room in the four-door, less in the two-door. Both Fords accommodate more cargo than the Jeeps—3.9–10.6 cubic feet with the seats up and 5.2–26.4 cubes more with them down, four-door to two-door. So the four-doors are close in size; the Bronco two-door is way bigger and roomier.

The Bronco offers three trim-specific grilles at launch, and each apes the fullwidth one-piece look of the original. The forward corners of each front fender sprout a “trail sight,” which helps locate the corners for the adventurous off-road driver and also serves as a place to lash canoes or kayaks to the roof.