The Original Ford Bronco Gets Raptor Upgrades Before Replacement This Year
The Ford Bronco became an overnight success for the American company on its arrival in the market in 1966. They sold almost 100,000 units in the first five years, so now that the new Bronco is gearing up for its debut later this year, it’s no surprise that people are getting excited.
Ambielec Design is getting in first by designing a render that mates the best of modern Ford with the perfectly square and brilliant Bronco in what he calls a “what-if” concept. He’s taken us back to the ’70s where “gas was going up but people were still buying big muscle cars and the Bronco was a total hit.”
As you can see from the ’70s-esque font on the side, this is no normal Bronco, with a Raptor powertrain, bright paint, huge tyres and bright chrome wheels. He’s even put together a little promotional image branding the car “Ford’s new pet dinosaur”, with a raptor on the bottom right that’s reflected on the spare tyre at the rear of the car. It’s cute, and exactly what this Bronco needed.
Ambielec Design is replacing the original 302-cubic-inch engine with the 390-cubic-inch V8 that was being used in the Mustang of that era. Sat at 6.4-litres, it produced 340bhp and 430lb ft of all-american torque.
A similar upgrade may be coming to the future Bronco, too, with Ford planning to give it a Raptor going-over once the new model is released. The expected performance is unknown, as is what powertrain it will use (we’re hoping a larger V8 over an EcoBoost V6 but will likely be disappointed), but stick around and we’ll keep you updated as soon as we know.