![]() Southerners, apparently, can be trusted to find off-road trouble all on their own. A Ford presentation seems to show the locations biased toward the West, with one in the Southwest desert, one in the Rockies and one in Texas, with the fourth in the Northeast. Locations to be announced, but the four sites will be geographically spread out and offer differing terrain. Ford didn’t offer many specifics on these, but the concept sounds like a more rootin' tootin' version of the Land Rover Experience Centers-outdoorsy fun, occasional winching required. Dubbed Off-Roadeos, these are places where Broncos can roam free and engage in off-road shenanigans and Bronco owners can get some off-road instruction. Speaking of the Bronco Sport Badlands, buying one of those or the Bronco will earn you a day at one of four off-road parks Ford is building around the country. However, in a presentation released late last night, there's mention of the Bronco Sport Badlands, suggesting that the baby Bronco will offer a particular off-road-oriented trim, along the lines of Jeep's Trailhawk models. ![]() The implication is that Ford won’t be throwing Built Wild badges on all-wheel-drive Escapes. ![]() You know how Wranglers are "Trail Rated"? Broncos will be "Built Wild." Basically, a Built Wild vehicle is always a 4x4 and gets extra off-road durability testing (as at Johnson Valley in California, where the Bronco is now the official vehicle of the King of the Hammers off-road race). Speaking of Jeep, Ford clearly wants to challenge the Wrangler not just on looks or capability, but in every facet of its existence. And now, it has evolved into a new carbon fiber body that is both functional. What Ford can claim, plausibly, is that it invented Jeep's vertical slotted grille, a design that's now trademarked and jealously guarded. The distinctive aerodynamic profile is the cornerstone of the Ford GT legacy. so Ford developed a more refined, spacious yet durable off-road vehicle to meet this need-Bronco." The Bronco arrived for the 1966 model year, so it’s a bit rich to claim that Ford thought it over for two decades, then applied its 1940s military learnings to a V-8–powered consumer vehicle. In Ford's narrative, "GIs returning home bought GPs for work and play, but they were too small and uncomfortable for civilian life. After the war, Willys immediately adapted the design for a civilian version, the CJ ("Civilian Jeep") and began production on the machine that evolved into today's Wrangler. For instance, did you think the Bronco was born in the 1960s? According to the new statement released by Ford, "Ford’s off-road SUV expertise traces back to World War II." Let’s get limbered up, because this is a bit of a stretch.īack in the 1940s, the little 4x4 that we think of as the ur-Jeep was the "GP"-for General Purpose-versions of which were built under contract by both Willys-Overland and Ford, from an American Bantam design.
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