A new image of the Ford Bronco has been leaked (again) just a day before its global reveal, exposing part of the vehicle’s roof-less, door-less design.
Around the same time, the first interior shots of the born-again Bronco also arrived in our inbox, showing a large central touch-screen and a beefy grabrail next to a centre console that houses a rotary drive mode selector with 2H, 4H, 4L and 4A options.
And in the past couple of days Ford has released two new teaser shots, showing more of its circular LED headlight signature and its rear tailgate-mounted spare wheel -- just like the Jeep Wrangler.
The image of the highly-anticipated Ford Bronco two-door blasting through sand was published by the Bronco6G.com forum and is a very clear demonstration of its off-road capability, striking right into Jeep Wrangler’s heartland.
Ford’s chief operating officer Jim Farley recently declared the new Bronco would make mincemeat of the Jeep Wrangler off-road.
The new Ford Bronco is tipped to launch with off-road-ready suspension straight out of the box and will be offered in three body styles, including the orange two-door short-wheelbase model you see here.
As with the new Land Rover Defender, there's also a long-wheelbase five-door version and a third Bronco model -- a smaller car-based compact SUV dubbed Bronco Sport, to be pitched at family and urban buyers.
While the two-door Ford Bronco has removable roof and door panels, it’s not clear from this image whether it has a fold-down windscreen like the Wrangler.
The new Ford Bronco resurrects the iconic Ford nameplate that was born in 1965 and axed in 1996, making way for new SUVs like the Explorer and Expedition.
The Bronco name was etched into history when US football legend OJ Simpson used a white Ford Bronco to evade the Los Angeles police highway patrol on June 17, 1994. The police chase was watched by almost 100 million American TV viewers.
As is becoming the case nowadays with highly-anticipated vehicle launches, interested buyers can plonk down $US100 to reserve their vehicle and be among the first to take delivery.
At this stage, the Bronco is not scheduled to come to Australia, despite being based on the same T6 platform architecture as the Ford Ranger – suggesting a right-hand drive conversion would not be out of the question.
Ford Australia CEO Kay Hart previously said there were no plans for the Bronco to head Down Under, where the Bronco nameplate was last sold in the 1980s, but she didn’t rule it out either.
“We’re happy with the [local SUV] line-up as it stands, but that’s not to say we wouldn’t look to add to the range in future,” she said.
Full details will be revealed imminently but engine options are expected to include a 2.3-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder engine similar to the donk in the Ford Ranger sold in the USA.
Six-cylinder petrol power is expected to be on the menu too, potentially in the form of Ford’s 2.7-litre twin-turbo V6.
In both cases, expect to see power chanelled to the wheels via a 10-speed automatic transmission.
There may even be a Ford Bronco Raptor in the vehicle’s lifecycle and that could mean V8 power.
Stay tuned for the Ford Bronco reveal at 10:00am AEST tomorrow (July 14).