Latest Ford Bronco Prototype Spotted, Shows Its Retro Style

Here’s something interesting that seems entirely accurate. If you hang around the streets in and around Ford World Headquarters in Dearborn, you are likely to see some exciting test mules, densely covered in camouflage happen to saunter by.

Ford Bronco Prototype Spotted In Wild

Lately, the vehicle that is making a small spectacle of itself as it motors around various urban settings is Ford’s upcoming Bronco SUV. For the last three years, the Bronco has been the subject of news teases, press spy sightings, and various other advance stories. Some of those stories have been as simple as the “this is the new Ford Bronco headlight” to as complicated as “Ford filed patents for the following body parts” with associated diagrams.

This time around, spy photogs had a field day as they found the four-door Bronco mule tooling around Dearborn and snapped a bunch of images of the four-door SUV. The key lines of the SUV, wrapped in black-and-white camouflage, were visible. The photos showed much more detail than previous close encounters of a spying kind.

According to Cars and Parts, the latest mule features wider fender flares. Also, it features a lifted suspension while the rubber on the Raptor-style wheels was similar to the tires used on Ford F-150 Raptor variants. The rubber was a set of Goodyear Wranglers. The publication speculated that Ford might offer a Raptor variant of the Bronco. Instead, the newsletter showed that Ford was serious about producing a challenger to the Jeep for the off-road market.

Ford Bronco Prototype Sparks Comments

There is no official word about the product because the manufacturer doesn’t comment on its future product plans. That does not stop publications like Torque News or Cars and Parts from voicing their opinions. One thing that is obvious on this test mule, other than its interesting camo that featured, among other things, the Bronco name and the Bronco horse logo, are the Bronco’s signature round headlights. the Bronco’s round headlights. And, dealers that talked with Cars and Parts said the Bronco’s design is very retro plus the grille features the stamping “Bronco.”

Others who have seen the new Bronco had several thoughts about the SUV. They include:

• Ford plans two- and four-door versions of the Bronco.
• The Bronco will be designed to be customizable.
• The top will be removable and stored in the cargo area.
• The doors will also be removable and stored in the cargo area.
• The side mirrors will be fixed to the A-pillars, remaining in place with the doors removed. One of the primary competitors of the upcoming Ford Bronco will be the Jeep Wrangler. The Wrangler’s side mirrors are attached to the doors. When the operator stows away the doors, the mirrors are no longer attached to the vehicle.

Ford Bronco Intro Planned In Spring

Ford has timed the Bronco introduction planned for spring. Cars and Parts believes the introduction will be at the Detroit International Auto Show planned now for June. Formerly, the Detroit show was in January. This new date puts a major damper on earlier reports that the Bronco's intro would be in New York in June.

Marc Stern has been an auto writer since 1971. It was a position that filled two boyhood dreams: One was that I would write, and two that I write about cars. When I took over as my newspaper’s auto editor, I began a 32-year career as an automotive columnist. There isn’t much on four wheels that I haven’t driven or reviewed. My work has appeared in Popular Mechanics, Mechanix Illustrated, AutoWeek, SuperStock, Trailer Life, Old Cars Weekly, Special Interest Autos, and others. Today, I am the Ford F150 reporter for Torque News. I write how-to and help columns for online sites such as Fixya.com and others. You can follow me on Twitter or Facebook. Most of Marc's stories can be found at Torque News Ford coverage. Check back again and search for Torque News Ford F-150 news for more F-150 truck news coverage.