Rod Hall was a master of off-road racing, and in the late 1960s, he drove the Ford Bronco to class and overall victories in the event that’s now the Baja 1000. Now, Abimelec Design has revived the appearance of this rugged for a rendering combining it with the 2021 Bronco.
The new Bronco maintains the original generation’s blocky proportions, so the 1960s livery fits this rendering really well. It wears a predominantly red, white, and blue color scheme, but a bulging, black hood breaks up the patriotic palette.
For heading off-road, the Rod-Hall-inspired Bronco rides on five-spoke wheels with big tires, and there’s a slightly higher ride height to help them hit. KC lamps on the bumper and top of the windshield would help light the way ahead. There’s no roof or windows, and the rear seats are gone, too. A full-sized spare wheel occupies some of the newly empty space.
Abimelec Design imagines this off-road beast using the 5.2-liter supercharged V8 from the Ford Mustang Shelby GT500. With 760 horsepower (567 kilowatts) and 625 pound-feet (847 Newton-meters) of torque, it would be quite an upgrade over the available twin-turbocharged 2.7-liter V6 EcoBoost with 310 hp (231 kW) and 400 lb-ft (542 Nm) of torque.
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Ford has already shown off its own off-road racing take on the Bronco (gallery above). The company said that it was dedicated to the 50th Anniversary of Rod Hall’s overall 1969 Baja 1000 victory. His granddaughter, Shelby, even drove the SUV during a portion of the 2019 event.
The modern Bronco R had an overhauled suspension with 14 inches of travel in the front and 18-inches at the rear. Inside, there were no windows.
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