Ford reveals production-ready 400bhp Bronco DR off-road racer

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, the DR stands for Desert Racer, and for, hmm, Some Monies, you too can own perhaps one of the coolest Broncos ever built. And they’ve built it good – Ford’s 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-optimised roll cage with integrated tubes.

The body panels are made from fibreglass – yep, that favoured material of Nineties 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 air-con, glass, nor 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-litre Ford Coyote V8 that “aims to generate” more than 400bhp, matched up to a 10-speed auto ‘box with a transfer case from the F-150. There are front and rear locking diffs, and special dampers with 80mm bodies, aluminium lower control arms, stronger front half-shafts, and a target of 55.1 per cent more front suspension travel and 58.6 per cent 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”. Read: rush hour on the M25, most likely.

There are big fat tyres. 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 Ford Performance Motorsports’ Mark Rushbrook. “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 somewhere ‘in the mid $200ks’.