Tag: Off-road

After unveiling Bronco-badged unlimited-class race trucks for the Ultra4 series, Ford on Wednesday announced that stock Broncos will also compete in the series.

Scheduled to begin testing later this month, the Ford Bronco 4600 is a modified version of the SUV people will actually be able to buy. It’s based on the 2021 Ford Bronco two-door with the Sasquatch package, using the same T6 platform, twin-turbocharged 2.7-liter V-6, and 10-speed automatic transmission as the showroom version.

The Bronco 4600 also gets Fox remote-reservoir coilover shocks, Wilwood brakes, and 35-inch BF Goodrich Mud-Terrain T/A KM3 tires, mounted to Method Race Wheels 202 beadlock rims.

Other upgrades include heavy-duty front portal hubs and a heavy-duty hydraulic steering rack with cooler. A factory Dana AdvanTEK e-locking differential sends power to the front wheels, while the Bronco racer uses a DynaTrac ProRock XD60 axle with ARB 35-spline air locker at the back.

Ford Bronco 4600

On the outside, the Bronco 4600 sports Ford Performance front and rear bumpers, a Warn winch, Rigid LED lighting, and a custom roll cage. The livery is a mix of retro elements referencing the 1969 Baja 1000-winning Bronco at the front and more modern graphics at the back.

Ford plans to field three Bronco 4600 race trucks, each with a pair of drivers in the Ultra4 series. The lineup includes drifting star Vaughn Gittin, Jr. and two-time King of the Hammers winner Loren Healy in one Bronco, a second Bronco driven by three-time King of the Hammers winner Jason Scherer and Baja 1000 class winner Bailey Cole, and a third Bronco driven by brothers and veteran off-road racers Brad and Roger Lovell.

Some of these drivers are also slated to race the Bronco 4400 trucks in the Ultra4 series’ unlimited class. Unlike the Bronco 4600, the Bronco 4400 is a purpose-built vehicle, and it has nothing in common with the stock Bronco except a name.

Prior to its foray into Ultra4, Ford entered the one-off Bronco R in the 2019 Baja 1000, using the T6 platform and 2.7-liter twin-turbo V-6 from the stock Bronco. While the Bronco R failed to finish due to mechanical issues, Ford said lessons learned from that project informed the Bronco 4600’s design.

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The 2021 Jeep Gladiator pickup truck gets a new model that dives into the brand’s past, Jeep announced on Friday. Available in combination with the Sport and Sport S trim levels, the new Gladiator Willys adds more off-road hardware to those lower-tier models.

Jeep has offered a Wrangler Willys, but 2021 is the first model year that the related Gladiator pickup gets that treatment. The Gladiator Willys adds a limited-slip differential, Rubicon rock rails and shocks, and 32-inch BFGoodrich KM2 mud-terrain tires. Willys models also get standard Command-Trac four-wheel drive with a 2-speed transfer case and a 2.72:1 low range.

Exterior changes include a Willys hood decal, a retro “4WD” tailgate decal, model-specific black 17-inch wheels, and a gloss-black grille. Available colors include Granite Crystal, Sting Gray, Billet, Firecracker Red, Hydro Blue, Snazzberry, black, and white.

2021 Jeep Gladiator Willys

Sport S-based Willys models come standard with the Technology Group, including a 7.0-inch infotainment touchscreen, automatic climate control, and Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility. They also get the Convenience Group, which adds a universal garage-door opener.

Gladiator powertrains include a 3.6-liter V-6, which makes 285 horsepower and 260 pound-feet of torque, and a 3.0-liter turbodiesel V-6, which is rated at 260 hp and 442 lb-ft of torque. The gasoline engine comes standard with a 6-speed manual transmission, while an 8-speed automatic is optional. The diesel is only available with the automatic.

The 2021 Jeep Gladiator Willys starts at $36,760 (including a mandatory $1,495 destination charge) and is available now. The Gladiator debuted as a 2020 model, but Jeep is quickly building out the lineup. It added the Gladiator Mojave later in the 2020 model year, and is launching an 80th Anniversary Edition alongside the Willys model for 2021.

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On Monday night the sixth-generation Ford Bronco will launch, making it the first Bronco in the company’s lineup since 1996. The off-road SUV available in two or four doors with removable doors and a removable roof will compete with the Jeep Wrangler, much as it did when Ford VP Lee Iacocca approved the first model for 1966.

Teaser for 2021 Ford Bronco family debuting on July 13, 2020

At the time, the Jeep CJ-5 and International Harvester Scout had laid the grounds for civilian-based off-road vehicles that had gained popularity in America in the era following World War II and the Korean War. It wasn’t new ground for Ford. In WWII, Ford manufactured Willys MB-based jeeps known as General Purpose or GPW, with the W referring to the design created by Willys MB. While that would develop into the Jeep brand, Ford made another iteration in 1951 known as the MUTT but didn’t get back into the off-road action until the ‘60s, when it was also developing the other end of the automotive spectrum with the Mustang pony car. 

1966-1977 Ford Bronco

1966 Ford Bronco wagon

1966 Ford Bronco two-door half-cab

1966 Ford Bronco roadster

The original sport-utility vehicle came as a station wagon, half-cab, or a short-lived roadster on a short 92-inch wheelbase. For context, the Ford Fiesta subcompact had a 98-inch wheelbase. The base roadster started at $2,400 (just under $19,000, adjusted for inflation), but came with no doors or a roof. The half-cab baby ($2,480) pickup truck left the field in 1972, leaving the three-door wagon ($2,625, or $20,800 adjusted for inflation) as the enduring first-run Bronco. It came with four-wheel drive, a Dana transfer case, a choice between two inline-6 engines or a V-8 upgraded in 1969 to 302 cubic inches, and a 3-speed manual. A 3-speed automatic was offered later to make the bare-bones first-generation Bronco more accessible through 1977.

1978-1979 Ford Bronco

1978 Ford Bronco

1978 Ford Bronco

Lasting only two years, the second-generation Bronco adopted a more pickup-like style and was sold only as a three-door. It started at about $6,500, or $25,560, adjusted for inflation. Based on the F100 pickup truck, it grew nearly two feet longer, nearly a foot longer, and was taller than its predecessor at a time when most American car designs were going in the opposite direction in the wake of the oil crisis. The wheelbase extended to 104 inches. 

1979 Ford Bronco

1979 Ford Bronco

1979 Ford Bronco

“Its only real resemblance to the old box-basic Bronco of yesterday seems to be its name,” Car and Driver wrote in a review of the 1978 model. The rounded headlights switched to square ones that would define the face of the Bronco for the remainder of its life. It had a removable fiberglass hard top over the rear seat and cargo area. The rear window retracted into the tailgate, and the tailgate dropped down like a pickup truck. It had a four-wheel-drive transfer case with automatic locking hubs for the first time, according to Car and Driver, and was powered by either a 5.8-liter V-8 or 6.6-liter V-8. 

1980-1986 Ford Bronco

1984 Ford Bronco

1984 Ford Bronco

1984 Ford Bronco

Ford peeled off the letters and slapped the Blue Oval badge on the face of the third-generation Bronco. Based on the F-150 pickup truck, the Bronco also got a bit smaller and lighter to address fuel economy concerns, and came with an inline-6 as well as a trio of V-8s. It started at $8,400, or $26,100 in today’s dollars. The solid front axle was replaced by a swing axle and an independent suspension to address on-road drivability demands that would presage the four-door SUV boom about to happen in the ‘90s. The Bronco also went upscale with the addition of the range-topping Eddie Bauer trim with two-tone paint, cloth bucket seats, and wood trim. (Eds note: Of the hundred of cars owned by my dad, his red-on-tan Eddie Bauer Bronco remains one of my favorites.)

1983-1990 Ford Bronco II

1986 Ford Bronco, left, and 1986 Ford Bronco II, right

Ford addressed the demand for smaller SUVs with the Ranger-based Bronco II that ran from 1983-1990. Shorter, smaller, narrower, the two-door Bronco II came with four-wheel drive and the choice of two V-6 engines or a turbodiesel-4. A high risk of rollover crashes doomed the Bronco II.

1987-1991 Ford Bronco

1987 Ford Bronco

Redesigned alongside the F-150 pickup truck, the new Bronco got some curves on its boxy bod with round wheel arches and wraparound headlights. Electronic fuel -injection highlighted the inline-6, and the V-8s carried over. More safety equipment was added, such as rear-wheel antilock braking, and the four-wheel- drive system could be activated with the push of a button. It started under $14,000, which is the equivalent of $31,600 today.

1992-1996 Ford Bronco

1995 Ford Bronco interior

1995 Ford Bronco

1996 Ford Bronco Eddie Bauer

 

The infamous chase of the LAPD pursuing O.J. Simpson hiding in the backseat of a white Bronco in 1994 had little to do with the demise of the full-size three-door Bronco. The relatively fixed roof (you could take it off if you didn’t mind the illegality or the impossibility of ever getting it to seal properly again) didn’t help, but the market was moving to four-door SUVs on car-based platforms for better road manners. Additional safety systems such as front crumple zones and three-point seatbelts for the rear seats, and a driver-side airbag, made it more user-friendly. It started under $19,000, which is about $34,700 today. The Bronco would eventually be replaced by the four-door Ford Expedition. 

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