For the past few years, the Ford Bronco has been duking it out with the Jeep Wrangler — including through project models.
These days, off-road enthusiasts are eating pretty well with the ever-present Jeep Wrangler as well as the now-well-established Ford Bronco and the Toyota 4Runner, among others. And each SUV is plenty capable in its own right, particularly if you go for the hardcore trail-ready versions: your Rubicons, your Badlands, your TRD Off-Roads, and what not. These sorts of vehicles aren’t just about buying something capable, though, as plenty of buyers stretch their imaginations (and their bank accounts) to customize and make their rig their own. And that’s what we have here, with two one-off project models based around the Ford Bronco Badlands.
And yes, Ford decided to debut these Off-Roadeo projects as a celebration to Moab, the premier destination for off-road enthusiasts, during Easter Jeep Safari. It’s not the first time they’ve done that, especially as it’s running the Bronco Stampede as a competing event this week, but why let Jeep have all the fun with its EJS concepts?
Fittingly, these project vehicles are called the “Arches” (four-door) and “Cliffhanger” (two-door).
While a lot of hardcore trail runners may take the two-door Bronco (and we’ll get to that in a moment), Ford brought a four-door rig to the party with today’s announcement as well. Called the Bronco Off-Roadeo: Arches Project Vehicle, it’s meant to be the sort of vehicle to take the entire family along on the Tower Arch route, for example.
This four-door Bronco Badlands gets a set of 37-inch BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A KDR2+ tires, for a start. You also get a light bar along the top of the windshield, auxiliary cowl lights, rock rails and a Warn winch integrated into the steel bumper. The Arches project sticks with the model’s normal doors, though having the soft-top makes for a fun open-air experience. To that, the earthy color palette along with the Code Orange and reddish accents nod to the very terrain you’ll be taking on when you head to one of the greatest off-roading locations around.
Ford’s idea with this one-of-a-kind rig is to show an “ultimate all-around option for taking you and four friends around Moab’s grueling trails.” Of course, if you really want to tackle the most grueling trails, you’ll probably want to go for Ford’s other project Bronco.
That would be the Bronco Off-Roadeo: Cliffhanger Project Vehicle. It gives off a similar sort of vibe with the color scheme, but ratchets up the off-road capability a bit. It’s also based on the two-door model. You still get a Warn winch, light bar and cowl lights, but there’s now a set of 40-inch BFGoodrich T/A Evo 3.0S tires. You get tube doors rather than the standard set, and instead of the regular seats, you get a pair of racing buckets with harnesses.
Ford also dropped the standard Bronco Badlands’ suspension setup for a set of Fox Live Valve shocks, like you get on the Bronco Raptor. In that sort of spirit, you also get custom fender flares to accommodate all that rubber. Ford’s team even put in petroglyphs and GPS coordinates to specific Moab trails as Easter Eggs.
For the moment, at least, it doesn’t look like Ford is keen to actually sell either project as a bespoke package. There are already a few special versions of the Bronco (like the Stroppe Edition) anyway, so you do have a fair amount of choice. Nevertheless, Ford is showing off both these projects at the Bronco Stampede in Moab this week — specifically at Performance Ford near the center of town. If you’re a bit more brand agnostic, then you can check out both Ford and Jeep’s concepts if you’re in the area.
