If you're bringing back a legendary nameplate after a quarter-century slumber, you'd better give it everything you've got. Two days spent driving the 2021 Ford Bronco both on- and off-road suggests that the company has come up with a raft of clever innovations that bring new capability, tech and refinement to the class.
How good is the new Bronco? While it's not perfect, Ford has indeed built a better 4x4.
Frankly, it's amazing that a new model with all the earmarks of a runaway success took such a tortured road back into production. From the moment the final Ford Bronco left the factory in 1996, there have been flickers of hope for a revival, but it's taken 25 years to get a new model into showrooms.
Along the way, there have been countless secret meetings, design studies, business proposals, false starts and pandemic-induced delays. Regardless, Ford has more than 125,000 firm orders booked for its new SUV, and the model has earned more consumer buzz than any of the brand's new vehicles in decades. In short, it all might have been worth it.
It would've been easy for the Blue Oval to copy the 4x4 formula long adhered to by the other hardcore SUVs that have come and gone — including Ford's original 1966 Bronco. That stone-tablet blueprint calls for simple body-on-frame construction, solid axles front and rear, a removable roof and doors and recirculating-ball steering.
Indeed, the 2021 Bronco has a separate body and ladder-style truck chassis, as well as a detachable roof and doors. However, Ford decided to go with an independent front suspension and rack-and-pinion steering. Both of these technologies are known for better control, precision and refinement, albeit at a higher cost and with questions about durability.
In light of these design decisions, it would be fair to wonder if Ford elected to gear the Bronco more toward on-road polish than off-road capability. As I learned over two days at Ford's new Off-Roadeo driving camp in Texas, to doubt Ford's engineers would be a bad bet. This Bronco is truly formidable in the rough stuff, and it's also significantly better to live with on a daily basis.
An unusual intro
Ford took the unusually bold step of having journalists' initial exposure to the new Bronco take place on a challenging, winding ribbon of lakefront tarmac with significant elevation changes — a sports car road.