Ford Bronco, Please!

Retro was huge at Ford long before the recent Mustang came along. Between the sleek shape of the resurrected—then killed again—Thunderbird, the Forty-Nine concept, and other streamlined throwbacks, the blue-oval division introduced the brutish Bronco concept at the 2004 Detroit auto show.

The 1965-inspired Bronco was the most interesting update of the old-school bunch. It was powered by a turbo-diesel 2.0-liter four making 128 hp and 244 lb-ft of torque, and it sported a nitrous system capable of bumping output by 50 hp for those times when your rock crawling went vertical. Jeep’s Wrangler has existed for six decades with little natural competition; this Bronco could have changed that. Now that Chrysler is struggling with its current identity and with its vendors dropping off like dead flees… Not to mention, Toyota’s FJ is no longer in production… Would or could Ford bring to market this vehicle in time to capitalize on the increasing void being created for a true off road, affordable, fun and practical sport vehicle.

Perhaps we may wish to ask Mr. Mulally to sponsor this project with his increasingly valued stock options that has accumulated as of late. Estimated just shy of 18 million last year. Throw a rock at the “Glass House” AKA Ford World Headquarters and see if we can convey a strong business case for this to be considered for production. All the while running as fast as you can from the security that will be hot on your tail for throwing rocks at their glass windows.