I should have specified that v8 Power is different than a v8. You can have v8 power with an ecoboost, that being said there is still no replacement for displacement, when it comes time to hook onto a trailer, and I will always opt for a true v8 if given the choice, and my 75 Bronco ONLY came with a v8, and I took it out and put in a 351 because well I like big v8's. If they want to offer a 6 I dont care but for me I will pass it up, if given a bigger choice.

 

The only thing this new Bronco will have in common with the old Bronco is the name and we all know it. The original bobtail bronco was a no-frills small simple 2 door vehicle with removable top. Standard or automatic transmission , straight axles front and rear in several body configurations. The new bronco will have none of these features. And yet it will be called a bronco. It will be a four-door for luxury vehicle with independent suspension and so on. It would be like when the new retro Mustang came out and It was only available in four doors with a four-cylinder automatic with woodgrain on the side. Yes technically it would still be a Mustang if Ford called it that. Ford will tell us that there is no market for that vehicle we want and yet they sell every jeep wrangler they can produce as fast as they can.

 

It seems like everyone is attaching themselves to the worst of the many widely varied rumors within the past year. Frantz told us that a Ford sales executive claimed to have seen the Bronco--a two-door Everest with luxury trim. If that executive was telling the truth, it was at most a test vehicle. Ford is still trying to design the Bronco around the Ranger frame, and they always use top-of-the-line vehicles for prototype testing. The Bronco will not be a luxury vehicle. Expensive, maybe, but not luxurious. It also won't be the Everest. I can't possibly be more clear about that.

Ford understands this market, and has made a legendary off-roader for 8 years now. Heck, they re-invented the off-road pickup segment.

Ford knows they have a lot riding on this--it's probably the most anticipated new vehicle lately.

Based on other reports, Ford will be using Dana for axles. At the very least that means a solid rear axle, and most likely a solid front too. For Pete's sake, this is a Ranger frame, it won't have wimpy suspension!

 

Like your optimism but unfortunately I'm a realist and a industry person. This bronco will not have a solid front axle , but it will be plenty luxurious compared to the original. Yes if we've lowered the standards so low that just having a rear axle qualifies as an off-roader then yes, I guess this qualifies as it will have a rear axle.

 

X2.


There's certain nameplates that should never return unless the manufacture makes sure the new generation can play off of what the older ones were.

 

I agree. The Bronco nameplate means something.
When I was a kid out wheelin' in my Dad's '74 Bronco or out in the '90 I had. If they made something like that I'd be the first in line.
Sadly, it will be something so far removed from that.
I hope that Ford keeps dragging their heels on the design and never produces one.

 

Not to bring this post back to life, but I don't think I've seen anyone bring this up. I would really like to see a removable rear top again.

 

I am glad you are keeping the thread alive. And I believe most of us agree with you. However, there are some that would rather defend Ford for the scary idea that they are just going to give us another 4 door civilized SUV (based off of the Everest) and call it a Bronco.
In my opinion, they should not call it a Bronco unless it is a 2-door with a removable top and bears some respectable resemblance to one of the older Broncos (not the Bronco 2)... something along the lines of how Chevy respects the old late 60s Camaro or Dodge w the Challenger

 

You can wish for whatever you want, but how does the current "cowboy Cadillac" F series pickup compare to the 1966 or 1978 F series pickups which had one bench seat and generally rubber mats inside? I had a '78 F100 with rubber mats on the floor (and a 4 speed manual OD trans and a 300 inch six)...and wanted a '78 Bronco but would not expect Ford to build me one of them in 2020...

I also owned and raced a number of 60's muscle cars and the new stuff ain't the same despite some similar styling cues.

 

I understand what you are saying, but there somewhat of a difference here. The new F series trucks don't include an F100, and they stopped using the "F100" as a model name. Now the have the "F150" model name, which is a different truck from the old F100's all together. If they want to make another 4 door SUV, that's going to feel and looks nothing like the Bronco, then don't bring back the name "Bronco" and just create a new name for the model.

If Ford came out and said "Hey in 2025 were going to do a short stint of new F100's", then I would expect that truck to, for the most part, look like the single cab, bench seat F100's with a few modernized elements.

We're not asking them to make the Bronco EXACTLY how it used to be made, but at least show respect for a classic

 

The F150 was an F100 with the GVW pushed over 6000 lbs to meet lower emissions requirements in 1975. It was an F100 with heavier springs, bigger (but still car-based) tires, no other difference except no short bed version of the F150. I was there. Chevy, GMC, and Dodge all had "heavy halfs" as well. No catalytic converters were required if GVW was over 6000 lbs and you could burn cheaper regular (leaded) gas instead of unleaded.

Compare 1966 or 1978 F250's or F350's with new ones and tell me you don't see the same change from a bench seat work vehicle to a 4 door limo with a bed on it. And price out a new F250/350...which fetches a limo-sized price too.

Ford owns the Bronco name--we don't--and they're gonna do what they believe makes them the most money. Money comes before "respect for a name"... Pickup trucks used to be stripped work vehicles and now they are cash cows and profit centers. Same with SUV's...

I also owned a 1980 FJ40 Toyota Land Cruiser which was like a really crude but ultra heavy-duty, small Jeep CJ; the new Land Cruiser is a 4-door $80k luxury sport ute that can still do tough off-roading. Look at British Land Rovers for a similar change from crude off roaders to luxury vehicles. Tastes have changed. People with money to spend ain't gonna buy crude oxcarts for big bucks; they want luxury vehicles and mfrs are into selling them "content".

 

YoGeorge has been singing that song since the beginning of this thread. Seems like he monitors the forum looking to defend Ford's right to disappoint the people who are so naive they want the Bronco replacement to actually resemble a Bronco.

 

I'm a lifetime car geek in Detroit who knows a lot of Big 3 engineers including people working on projects that I can't talk about. I've had friends show me development vehicles in full mfr camo in my driveway. No Broncos yet, however. My best Ford engineer buds have retired in the last 5-10 years although I have good contacts at GM and Chrysler still.

I believe I understand the auto market (particularly the profit motive of auto makers), and I'm anxiously waiting for the new Bronco with a good possibility that I'll buy one. If it's a lot like an Everest, that would be fine with me.

People who think Ford is going to build them an antique 1966 or 1978 Bronco are likely going to be pretty disappointed. But if the new one has visual design cues from the past, that would be fine with me. I have a particular fondness for the '78 "dentside" design.

This is a discussion forum and I enjoy discussing stuff with people whose views are different from mine. None of us are proven "right" until the new Bronco shows up in showrooms.

The 2018 Wrangler is going to have a turbo 4 cylinder as a standard engine, as a hint that even the revered Jeep continues to change in the face of the modern market.

George

 

Wow I don't believe you at all. "Projects I cant even talk about"? That is a classic "I have no clue, but I wanna seem important". Dealt with this all throughout high school.

Second, again, No one is asking for an antique ford. We just want it to seem like it deserves the "Bronco" name. What would you say is Ford made a new sedan, comparable to say a Nissan Sentra, and named it an Explorer? How are you not understanding this?

 

Exactly. Someone gets it