As Ford’s most classic off-road vehicle, the Ford Bronco once left a strong mark on the Ford brand in the second half of the last century. The image of the three-door hard-top off-road vehicle has also become the classic image of the American hard-core SUV in the 1970s and 1980s. The subsequent discontinuation of Ford Bronco made many fans sigh, which can be seen from the hot Ford Bronco clubs in North America.
The news that the new generation of Ford Bronco is about to return has attracted much attention a few years ago. As the new car’s debut time approaches, there are signs that the new generation of Ford Bronco is likely to be a return of the Ford Everest. However, this will not affect the attention of the return of this classic off-road vehicle. Therefore, before the official debut of the new generation of Ford Bronco, in the next time, we will talk about two concept cars built by Ford based on Bronco in the 1980s.
Ford Bronco Montana Lobo Concept
The Ford Bronco Montana Lobo concept car first met the public at the Chicago International Auto Show in 1981. The concept car is based on the 1977 Ford Bronco. Because it is based on the current model, the Ford Bronco Montana Lobo is closer to a modified concept car in a certain sense. In this concept car, Ford also showed a breakthrough concept of wildness.
On the whole, the image of the Ford Bronco Montana Lobo concept car is completely close to the mass-produced car, which is largely due to the fact that its bottom design retains the use of the mass-produced model. It can be seen that the Ford Bronco Montana Lobo concept car uses BFGoodrich all-terrain tires, and BFGoodrich’s trademark and tire model are marked in white fonts. The matching white steel wheels are also a very standard design in the 1980s. So, as far as the bottoms are concerned, this Ford Bronco Montana Lobo concept car is a good interpretation of the production elements.
In order to meet the needs of high-strength off-road, the lower part of the Ford Bronco Montana Lobo concept car uses a steel protective kit to wrap the lower plate of the vehicle. The integrated guard covers the front bumper, wheel eyebrows, Side steps and rear bumper. The one-piece bottom protection bar design is also very thoughtful even now. On both sides of the side steps, high-gloss exhaust pipes are placed, and the wild atmosphere is well embellished.
In terms of the design of the upper part, the Ford Bronco Montana Lobo concept car also retains certain characteristics of a mass-produced car. The shape of the front of the car before the A-pillar is almost the same as that of the 1977 Ford Bronco. Starting from the A-pillar, the Ford Bronco Montana Lobo concept car completely breaks through the design of Bronco. First of all, the design of the three-door hardtop has become an open rear. Through the use of the integral gantry frame, the outline of the upper body also outlines an image similar to a slip-back style. Also integrated with the gantry are the roof spotlights and a small spoiler. The most interesting design is that the door adopts a detachable bubble-type fully transparent glass door design.
In terms of the rear space utilization of the vehicle, the Ford Bronco Montana Lobo concept car has added a retractable loading ramp and enriched the internal storage space. The interior configuration includes digital instruments and ventilated seats. In terms of power, since it is derived from the improvement of the mass-produced version of the Ford Bronco, the Ford Bronco Montana Lobo concept car also retains the configuration of the 5.0L V8 naturally aspirated engine.
Ford Bronco DM-1 concept car
The Ford Bronco DM-1 Concept unveiled at the 1988 Chicago International Auto Show was decidedly sleeker and sleeker than the Ford Bronco Montana Lobo Concept unveiled in 1981. In the market environment at that time, the Ford Bronco DM-1 concept car was more like an attempt at an urban SUV.
On the whole, the Ford Bronco DM-1 concept car is very fashionable. The whole car is composed of a smooth surface, and the use of details is as simple as possible. The A-pillar and the hood are based on the same inclination, so the front end of the vehicle presents the image of a bullet. The height of the roof has also been raised. The design of the upper part of the car body is made of black and a large area of glass, except for the B-pillar which uses the same body color as the highlight embellishment. In particular, the position of the small window of the trunk uses a large area of glass. Therefore, the permeability of the vehicle is very well established. To a large extent, it presents an MPV-style design.
Since only the frame of the Ford Bronco is used, the bodywork is made of fiberglass and steel plates. So there is no trace of Ford Bronco on the Ford Bronco DM-1 concept car. The simple and smooth body design also makes the Ford Bronco DM-1 concept car have a lower drag coefficient.
Inside the vehicle, the Ford Bronco DM-1 Concept features an early version of the GPS navigation system, and the interior design has a very ’80s feel. The seats can be adjusted in six different ways, and the rear seats can be fully folded to meet greater load requirements. Of course, in terms of power and driving form, it remains consistent with Ford Bronco.
Although they represented a brand-new design concept at that time, these two concept cars did not achieve mass production in the end, but this did not affect their memory as a classic in the design circle.
