There’s nothing worse than a remade icon that misses the mark. Duran Duran’s cover of Public Enemy’s “911 is a Joke” certainly comes to mind. But in the car world, this type of abomination is rampant, between the modern Ford Thunderbird (gag), the VW Beetle (tears), and the Ferrari California (waaaaaaah!). So while Ford was cooking up plans for a Bronco reboot, we Bronco fans were armoring ourselves with an arsenal of insults. We were ready to pounce last week when Ford unveiled the 2021 Ford Bronco. There was just one problem- it rules!
The new Bronco is not only gorgeous, but it is also off-road capable, nicely equipped, and fairly priced. This presents a problem for car journalists because we all know that writing about bad is way more fun! (Why do you think I write Dude or Dbag?) The good news is that we’ll always have Twitter:
What Chet forgets is that many true off-roaders prefer manual transmissions, but I digress. What matters is that you are gonna love it and here are 5 damn good reasons why:
- It’s Thoughtful
Notice how the rearview mirrors are mounted to the vehicle body. Guess what that means? That means that you still have mirrors when you take your doors are off. Brilliant. And that open roof without a center rail? A better view indeed. Touches like these show that Ford not only listened to Bronco fans but also made a serious effort to deliver a worthy ride.
2. It’s Sized Right
Check out how the proportions of the modern two-door match that of the first-gen. The scale may not seem like it’s important to you right now, but why don’t you get back to me after you try to parallel park this bad boy on the streets of Boston or Venice. Yelp! This is one of the reasons why the first-gen is so coveted, it’s perfectly sized, just like the new version. Right on!
3. It Is Not A Cartoon
My friend Rebecca Lindland made a really good point during a live YouTube Bronco roundtable I hosted recently (to watch, click here). She noted that the Toyota FJ came back like a cartoon and that offended those who really wanted to love it:
She nailed it. That’s EXACTLY how I feel about the FJ (and also the Beetle and the Thunderbird remakes for that matter). But the Bronco is no joke:
It is meaty, beefy, rough, yet refined…yes I’m still talking about the Bronco. I mean, look at that grille! It’s a perfect homage to the original wrapped in a modern package.
4. It Says Let’s Go!
A great car doesn’t just drive well, it fills you with passion the minute you lay eyes on it. Whether that’s to drive fast, put the top down, or just drive by your high school nemesis screaming, “WHO’S THE LOSER NOW?” great vehicles evoke emotions. The Bronco may be only used for carpools, Costco runs, and boring commutes, but what it SAYS is, “Let’s Go!” Let’s go camping! Let’s go rock crawling! Let’s take the back way..you know, the dirty one! Hell yeah!
5. Ford Wants To Teach You How
Here’s the kicker: Ford doesn’t just provide sell you a capable off-roader and then send you on your merry way. Instead, they plan to open 5 Off Rodeo centers across the country to teach people how to do cool stuff with their vehicles. No more mysterious buttons, no 4×4 posing, if all goes as planned they’ll convert the off-road curious to true dirt mongers. As someone who is lucky enough to get occasional 4×4 training herself, trust me, this is more fun than you can possibly imagine.
As you can tell, I’m 100% down with this vehicle. But it’s not just me, check out this roundtable I did with a bunch of other car female writers- it was unanimous, the Bronco is Dude-approved: