The hype surrounding the 2021 Ford Bronco is still strong, even after its July 13 debut. While we’ve seen Ford’s own renderings of its resurrected SUV, we still catch some camouflaged examples out in the wild from time to time. Today, TFLcar reader Rod spotted this particular two-door Bronco Badlands high-altitude testing near Loveland Pass in Colorado.
In case you did miss the earlier news, here’s what we have to look at today. The grille marks this test vehicle out as a Badlands, which is one of the most off-road capable Bronco trims next to the Wildtrak. While the latter is meant more high-speed desert bashing — think about a “Raptor”-like SUV tearing up the Mojave — this one is meant more as an “extreme” rock-crawling machine. At least, Ford markets the trim as extreme, but I’m sure the aftermarket community will go fantastically berserk with the Bronco when deliveries actually start in June 2021.
Beyond choosing the Badlands trim, the Sasquatch Package adds more off-road capability to the 2021 Ford Bronco by way of front and rear lockers and an electromechanical two-speed transfer case, as well as 35-inch Goodyear Territory mud terrain tires. Close to what Ford’s own renderings show (that image also shows available accessories), the test vehicle has similar gear equipped for its testing here in the Rocky Mountains.
More on the 2021 Ford Bronco
While these photos show the 2021 Ford Bronco Badlands on the road, we do have a more detailed video below taking a look at Ford’s new-era model against the likes of the Jeep Wrangler and the Toyota 4Runner. A 2.3-liter four-cylinder EcoBoost engine comes as standard equipment, and it’s the only SUV in its class you can get with a seven-speed manual transmission. The three-pedal option nets you a best-in-class 94.7:1 crawl ratio. However, it’s worth noting at this point the Sasquatch Package is only available with the larger 2.7-liter EcoBoost V6 and a 10-speed automatic transmission.
Pricing for the 2021 Ford Bronco starts from just under $30,000 for the base model, while the two-door Badlands starts from $42,095 excluding destination.
More photos are below:
