Ford Highlights the Racy Side of Bronco at the Woodward Dream Cruise

Ford Bronco will appear in all three forms during the all-women Rebelle Rally in October.

The Ford media clubhouse for the week of the 2021 Woodward Dream Cruise was set up at Kruse and Muer, right in the heart of the event route. In the parking lots on both sides of the restaurant, the Motor Company had a huge spread of vehicles with heavy emphasis on their current electric projects, but the new Bronco was also prominently showcased. This included a few vehicles available for media drives on Woodward Avenue and a truck that had been upfitted with Ford Performance parts, but more importantly, Ford introduced the three Broncos which will compete in the upcoming Rebelle Rally.

This famous all-women rally race takes place in Nevada and California in October, and it is a grueling test of both vehicle endurance and human navigation skills. The Bronco Sport won its class in 2020, but for 2021, Ford is looking to put multiple SUVs on the podium, with two entries in the 4×4 class and one entry in the X-cross class.

“We’d love nothing more than to podium a Bronco and a Bronco Sport at the same time,” said Jovina Young, Bronco Sport marketing manager. “What I really like about sending the full family of Broncos is that Rebelle is about taking on different types of terrains and exploring; competitors aren’t just hitting high speeds in the desert. It’s a chance to show Bronco doing a different type of off-roading.”

The Sport Returns to X-cross

First up, we have the Ford Bronco Sport, which will compete in the X-cross class of the 2021 Rebelle Rally.

The Sport won the X-cross class last year with professional off-roader Shelby Hall and navigator Penny Dale in control, but this year, Hall and Dale are campaigning a two-door Bronco in the 4×4 class. Instead, the Sport will be piloted by professional off-roaders Melissa Fischer and Cora Jokinen in the X-cross class.

The Bronco Sport competing in this year’s Rebelle Rally is a Badlands model in bone stock form, except the rear seats have been removed. Of course, there is a flashy livery which is shared across each of these race trucks, inspired by the Bronco 4600 ULTRA4 off-road race truck (below).

Bronco Takes on 4×4

In the 4×4 class, there will be two Bronco entries, starting with the two-door model driven by 2020 X-cross winners Hall and Dale. They will compete in a Wildtrak model equipped with the Sasquatch package, but other than the livery and the upgrade package, this is a factory-built SUV.

The other Bronco in the Rebelle Rally 4×4 class is a four-door model that will be campaigned by novice off-roaders Kathryn Reinhardt and Victoria Bundrant from the of-road component supplier 4Wheel Parts. It is unclear what all will be done to this truck, but Ford stated that it would be accessorized.

What is Rebelle Rally?

Rebelle Rally is the first all-women’s off-road navigation rally event in the United States. The rally begins at the Hoover Dam in Nevada on October 8 and ends at the Imperial Sand Dunes in California on October 16, with rest stops at designated base camps along the way. No electronic navigation equipment is permitted, so the competitors have to make their way from the dam to the dunes using traditional tools like a map and a compass. In addition to staying on the right track, competitors have to deal with some pretty unruly terrain along the way, all while trying to make it from point A to point B as quickly as possible.

“The No. 1 obstacle at Rebelle is your navigation, but the terrain definitely challenges the vehicles and these competitive women too,” said Young, who competed last year as a novice in a Bronco Sport. “This is such a great event to showcase what Bronco and these women off-roaders are capable of in the harshest conditions.”

If things go as well as Ford hopes, they will come away with a pair of wins from the 2021 Rebelle Rally.

Patrick Rall

"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.

"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.

"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.

"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.

"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.

"Being based on Detroit," says Rall, "I never miss the North American International Auto Show, the Woodward Dream Cruise and Roadkill Nights, along with spending plenty of time raising hell on Detroit's Woodward Avenue with the best muscle car crowd in the world.

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