Let’s face it. The original Bronco (certainly as an Australian saw it) was only an OK off roader and not much of an expeditioner.
However...it was a tuner’s delight! There were so many around the place with lifted suspension, fat tyres and over indulged engines that even knowing what a stock one actually looked like was ‘quite difficult’.
With Ford’s Rest of World Everest now the apparent hot favourite to become the new North American Bronco...
...where does that leave us?
It would certainly address the historical issue of overlanding in a Bronco since the Everest/Ranger duo are already mostly proven in the regard.
But what about the tuners and the customisation side?
Visually...stuff is already happening to the Everest...
But beyond that?
Well, with the shuttered of Ford manufacturing this week in Australia and the associated demise of the Ford Performance Vehicle (FPV) brand, Tickford (a tuning, motorsport and coach building company with a long and interesting history) have just relaunched in Oz after years of working with Ford under the FPV brand. And their opening product is based on the Bronco’s Everest’s older sister, the Ranger.
The best bit about this news is that the already respectable outputs (147kW/470Nm) of the 3.2 litre 5 cylinder TDi have been boosted somewhat to 169kw/564Nm...15 and 20% increase respectively. Mind you, it’ll cost us about $8000 if we’d want it.
There’s also suspension lifts, interior upgrades and external accessorises in the mix in order to satisfy the need for tasty modification. Though I picture the Ironman4x4 bullbar on the front of mine and a full length roof rack.
Actually, truth be told I don’t like the Ranger [and therefore the Everest] as it is a bastard to drive off road due to the high doors and small windows which greatly limits visibility even for a statuesque gent (and my even more statuesque Boss) as myself - so I wouldn’t buy one.
Even so, my only question for Tickford is...how much to weld up the back doors and modify the B pillars of the Everest to make it look more Bronco-ish?