Ford Authority spotted what appeared to be a Ford Bronco Sport Raptor prototype out driving around last week, wearing no camo whatsoever and some rather interesting features – including actual Raptor badges. However, it was just a day later that The Blue Oval informed us that this Ford Bronco Sport Raptor prototype wasn’t an indication that such a thing was actually slated for production, but rather, the result of employees just having some fun. However, there could certainly be more to the story than that.
Rather, the fact that Blue Oval employees are messing around with the Ford Bronco Sport could certainly be an indication that the crossover’s lineup is set to expand at some point in the future, whether it be with an actual Bronco Raptor or something else entirely. We’ve seen this play out before – and rather recently – with the Ford Mustang Mach-E Rally, in fact, which is also something that started life as a mere idea in a break room that wound up making it to production.
As Ford Authority previously reported, after someone presented the idea of creating a rally-inspired version of the Mach-E in the engineering break room one day, product planners Peter Schultz and Craig Migliori decided to take a regular old GT model, install some new wheels and off-road tires on it, and head up to Ford’s Michigan Proving Grounds to see if it could handle laps in the dirt. Turns out, it was surprisingly good in that type of setting, which is what led to the development of a production version of that one-off creation.
Thus, it’s reasonable to speculate that The Blue Oval could do something similar with this Ford Bronco Raptor Sport one-off. Even if the small crossover isn’t offered in full-blown Raptor guise, it could gain something like a Tremor variant, which would make quite a lot of sense. After all, both the Ford Explorer and Ford Maverick (which shares a platform with the Bronco Sport) are unibody vehicles offered in Tremor form already, so the precedent has been set in that regard.
Comments
I’m starting to feel like you were embarrassed for falling for the Bronco driving around and now you are trying to spin it. Haha
One day it’s a hoax and the next…in any event, it’s not needed.
I’d rather see them take the Sasquatch package from the Bronco Sport and drop it into the Maverick, add more horsepower to create a pint-sized Maverick Raptor.