Ford has been developing a slew of new parts and accessories to try and beat the aftermarket to the punch when it comes to customizing its new Bronco SUVs. So far, these add-ons have been a bit elusive, peeking into the public eye via leaked photos and patent images. But now, it's the Bronco's 55th birthday, so Ford has decided to give us an official look at some Bronco lifestyle concepts that carry these new parts, along with a bit of information concerning the Bronco R's participation in the upcoming Baja 1000.
There's nothing crazy in these images, they are, after all, "lifestyle concepts," but there are a few good parts to be had that would be nice add-ons for both the Bronco and Bronco Sport.
Ford calls the Bronco concept above the Two-Door Trail Rig—it's based on the Badlands trim level. It has the tube doors that we've seen leaked before, a front winch made by WARN mounted behind a "modular" tube steel front bumper, and a roof rack made by Yakima that holds some goodies also made by WARN to help you out of a sticky situation. We're also told it has "rugged" floor mats, and a table mounted to the rear swing gate that wasn't pictured.
You'll also notice the RIGID-brand lightbar mounted on the roof—it's more than three feet wide at 40 inches end-to-end. That should be enough light to spot any nighttime obstacles for the beadlock-capable wheels to roll over.
Like to fish? Well, I have the perfect Bronco concept for you. Especially if you have friends that like fish, also. That's because this concept—based on the four-door Bronco Outer Banks—is called the Fishing Guide. It has a retractable soft top for the front passengers only, a Yakima roof rack for carrying around what looks like a helluva lot of live bait, and some boards to help you out of the sand if you get stuck. There's also a fishing rod holder mounted to the trail sights—which I previously just called "the hood jimmies"—that can hold four fishing rods of your choice.
And while this lifestyle concept lacks the knobby tires of the others, it does still have a modular tube-steel front bumper with some extra foglights as well.
Bronco Sport Concepts
Ford also unveiled three concepts based on the Bronco Sport. They're all pretty similar, offering a lot of the same accessories that the full-sized cars do, however, those accessories really do a lot for the smaller SUV's looks.
The first concept is called the Trail Rig, and it's outfitted similarly to its two-door Bronco counterpart. That means 31-inch mud-terrain tires, a one-inch lift kit (I guess that's something?), and a front-mounted push bar with the usual smattering of LED lighting. The top of the truck also gets a platform roof rack treatment, complete with off-roady stuff similar to that found on the other Trail Rig concept. I personally think the tires, lift, and push bar does a lot to improve the Bronco Sport's offroad image.
The red car above is called the "Off-Roadeo Adventure Patrol." It's rather similar to the Trail Rig, except it looks to be without the 1" lift. It has a similar Yakima roof rack to the yellow car, and it loses the push bar and bar-mounted lighting in favor of a roof-mounted lightbar and a place on the hood to land a drone. I'm not sure if I would want to land a drone on my Bronco Sport for fear of marring the paint, but I'm pretty sure a lot of drones land themselves these days anyway. The paint on this particular concept is also pretty cool, it has an interesting topographical map effect on the side that, well, it just makes me think of the trails, man.
The third blue concept is creatively referred to as the "Bronco Sport TOW RZR," because it uhh... tows RZRs. It's pretty plain-jane, it has a similar roof system to the other cars—this time it's referred to as a "basket" instead of a rack—and it, of course, has a Class II Trailer Tow Package to allow it to pull as much as 2,200 pounds safely. That's not a ton, but it is enough for a lightweight UTV.
So what these concepts add up to is basically some various parts combinations you could do on the Bronco of your choice. I think they do the most legwork on the Bronco Sport, particularly the Trail Rig concept, but the regular Bronco gains a bit more offroad appeal with additions like the tube doors and push bar.
As far as that Bronco R news goes, Ford will indeed be attempting the Baja 1000 again, this time with a four-door chassis paired to the 2.7-liter Ecoboost. The automaker's last attempt ended in failure, but Ford is giving it another shot this year when autumn rolls around to try and prove itself once again. We're interested to see the results of its second attempt, and I'm sure we'll be telling you how that goes when it happens.
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