It’s not a road car, but where this thing wants to go, you don’t need...roads. This is the new Ford Bronco DR, a purpose-built off-road racer that Ford describes as a “first-of-its-kind” limited production Baja 1000 desert race SUV.
That’s right—‘DR’ stands for ‘Desert Racer,’ and for some money, you too can own perhaps one of the coolest Broncos ever built. And they’ve built it good. Ford has teamed up with long-time partner Multimatic (the two worked on the Ford GT road and race cars together) to create your ultimate off-road toy.
“It’s not just a Bronco with some stripes on it,” explains Bronco chief designer Paul Wraith. “We were inspired by extreme rally cars, and then went all in.” So, the DR keeps the Bronco’s frame and body structure, but gets a full Multimatic FEA-optimized roll cage with integrated tubes.
The body panels are made from fiberglass—yep, that favored material of ’90s tuners—while the tubular front bumper is said to draw a connection with the road car. Not so the interior, which has been stripped back to the core. There’s no aircon, glass, or any other “interior amenities.” The omission of the former might prove troublesome for a...desert racer.
What isn’t troublesome is the powertrain. There’s a 5.0-liter Ford Coyote V8 that “aims to generate” more than 400hp, matched up to a 10-speed auto gearbox with a transfer case from the F-150. There are front and rear locking diffs, and special dampers with 80mm bodies, aluminum lower control arms, stronger front half-shafts, and a target of 55.1% more front suspension travel and 58.6% at the back. Basically, it’s a lot spongier.
There’s an approach angle of 47 degrees, a departure angle of 37 degrees and breakover of 33 degrees, which, says Ford, should give it the capacity to take on “the nastiest routes.”
There are big fat tires. A big fat fuel tank. Better brake pads and increased articulation for the steering setup. “This is a ground-up build, which is a bit unique in itself,” explains Mark Rushbrook of Ford Performance Motorsports. “At the heart of what we did here was capture the enthusiasm surrounding Bronco, and then build on it by creating a desert racer that is competition-ready coming out of the factory, something Ford has never done before.”
It’s limited to just 50 models, and each one will cost more than $200,000 (P10.1 million).
NOTE: This article first appeared on TopGear.com. Minor edits have been made.
