It’s not set to officially debut for at least a few more months — we haven’t even seen its big brother yet — but the Ford Bronco Sport has been leaked fully undisguised on the aptly named BroncoSportForum. We’ve been calling it the “baby Bronco” for awhile, and now we can see what looks like a production-ready model in the sheet metal.
Like its larger sibling, details of the Ford Bronco Sport show its clearly aimed at small off-roaders like the Jeep Renegade. There aren’t too many flowing lines or curvaceous crossover cues here. Instead, we get something boxy and rugged, and we particularly like the squared-off headlights as well as the upright design from the A-pillar rearward. The two-tone paint scheme with this example really emphasizes the roof shape as something that’s more adventure-minded than some of the others in the segment.
I’m especially curious about the badge on the driver’s door. It likely signifies the trim level, and this looks like a higher-end version of the Bronco Sport. Folks were kicking around the “Adventurer” and “Maverick” names before, so those may still be in play as trim levels.
One design element we’re not so sure about is the rear end. For naysayers of the smaller, crossover-based baby Bronco, the Bronco Sport looks more aggressive than I expected from the front end through the side profile. The cladding is a nice touch as well, adding to the rugged look. At least there’s not too much of it, as we’ve seen with some other “soft-roaders.” Once you get around to the back, though, the taillight design and accented parts of the sheet metal just look odd.
Like the Land Rover Discovery, it looks like the Ford Bronco Sport is meant to have a rear tire, but we’ll see no such thing here. Styling is subjective, though, so let us know what you think in the comments below. These pictures, though they do show more detail, may not show the final version justice. So, we’ll have to wait and see until we actually see it in person to find out if the styling cues come across better in the real world.
There are still a few unknowns here, of course. The tires, for example, don’t look anything like what we’ll see on the final version. These look like they’re just for show, but we suspect we’ll see more aggressive all-seasons (or maybe some all-terrain tires) on versions that are coming up. Despite how much space there appears to be under the hood, it looks like the Bronco Sport will get the same 1.5-liter EcoBoost engine that we see in the Escape. It may get a 2.0-liter model at the top end, but Ford hasn’t confirmed powertrains here just yet.
The big Bronco’s debut is coming up very soon, and the baby Bronco will follow right after. We expect to see the car unveil at the New York Auto Show, so stay tuned for more updates!
