It's back! After nearly 25 years Ford has finally announced the return of the Ford Bronco! They were originally going to make the announcement on June 9th, but decided not to after the internet quickly pointed out it was the same day as OJ Simpson's birthday.
Even after all this time, OJ and the Bronco are still linked in people's minds. The 2021 Bronco has the classic look of models past but is made for the 21st century, and we think it looks pretty cool!
The new Bronco project started back in 1999, when a group of Ford employees known as the "Bronco Underground" started working on plans for the car. It was almost like a classified military project, where they worked to move away from the "OJ" model and bring back aspects of the car from the 1960s.
The code name for the Underground's project was U260. The "U" stood for "utility" and the "60" originated from a different code name for the Ranger pickup truck. It took years for the Underground to get things going, and on top of that Ford was dealing with a safety scandal involving Firestone tires on their Explorer SUV.
Budgets within the company were being cut, and the U260 program was cancelled. The program was still on hold during the 2008 Recession and then in 2013 Ford almost lost the trademark for the Bronco name. Things eventually picked up over the last five years, and it looks like the Bronco is finally back!