Ford is set to finally reveal the long-awaited reborn Bronco tonight, but the first official image has leaked online in advance.
UPDATE: The Bronco has been officially revealed - click here to see it.
Published over the weekend on the Bronco6G fan forum, the image tallies with a previous leaked shot by a Ford insider at one of its US facilities. This time, we can see the two-door model, featuring the same bluff front end but a significantly shorter body and wheelbase. It also features a Jeep Wrangler-style removable roof.
Ford has confirmed the car's reveal time will be 8pm Eastern Daily time, which is 1am BST. Like most reveals during the pandemic, it will be a wholly online affair, streamed across Disney TV channels ESPN, ABC and National Geographic.
Earlier this year, pictures of a four-door Bronco were leaked alongside its smaller, more road-focused sibling, the Bronco Sport. The leak stemmed from another forum post, with the images seemingly taken on a smartphone by somebody deep within Ford's US facilities.
It showed what looks like the full-size car in physical prototype form, with styling very similar to that seen in previous images leaked from an earlier behind-closed-doors dealer presentation.
The car's front end is emblazoned with the Bronco name, while a distinctive LED light design comprises a straight strip stretching between semi-circles. Pronounced wheel arch extensions are necessary to cover huge off-road tyres.
Aimed to compete directly with the rugged Jeep Wrangler, the new Bronco will launch in both two- and four-door forms, with a pick-up truck version possibly following later to rival the Jeep Gladiator.
Side mirrors mounted to the A-pillars and a 'floating' third brake light above the rear-mounted spare wheel seen in earlier disguised prototypes also suggest a version could arrive with a removable roof and removable doors.
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Don't know why we are seeing
Don't know why we are seeing all these comparisons with the Defender. They are completely different cars in different market sectors. The Bronco is based on the Ford Escape, or Kuga to those in the civilised world, so that means it's based on a jacked up Focus. In no way does that compare to the full sized, proper off reader that the Defender is. Will they sell more Broncos than Defenders in the US. Of course they will, it's a small cheap commuter vehicle that will be discounted to the max like all Fords.
Nice in a rough sort of way
I personally always lowed Mk.1 Bronco looks!
According to Car&Driver: "We do know it will share a platform with the next-generation Ford Ranger pickup truck. Although the current Ranger is essentially an American version of a truck that already existed overseas, the upcoming replacement will be completely redesigned when it arrives in 2021. We know it'll get the turbocharged 2.3-liter four-cylinder from the current Ford Ranger as well as the twin-turbo 2.7-liter V-6 that's available on the Ford F-150. Additionally, the Bronco could get a seven-speed manual transmission with a "crawler" gear for off-roading. Ford has confirmed that the Bronco will eventually offer a hybrid powertrain, too." Assuming this correct -- platform is truck platform, that ought to be strong recipe for off-roading, and it shall have what they term crawl gear I don't know whether that means proper off road gearing or just additionally lower gear however being based on truck-chassis I see no reason why they don't go all the way and provide the traditional off roader gearing -- effectively as it's based on the European Ranger, the European Ranger should pretty much tell everything that matters about, how it shall be. Meaning, it most likely shall be less refined than the new Defender, not luxury vehicle in short, could also have less in form of road refinment -- however I see no reason why it couldn't be a better off-roading vehicle assuming off-road to road-bias. Prices remains open question, however Ford seem to be using technology already available on other plat-forms and other vehicles, so there is no reason in the world - prices wouldn't be highly competitive. I'd in short be rather surprices, if prices didn't undercut similarly equipped Defender by some margin. If it looks as good as in the pictures, Ford would be really amiss if it didn't seel very well indeed. As it really looks quite excellent -- better in my opinion than the new Defender.