Why the characterful Ford Bronco is staging a comeback

The best part of a decade elapsed between Land Rover’s unveiling of the ‘DC100’ concept at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show and the first ‘New Defenders’ hitting the road two years ago just as Covid struck – prompting suggestions that the beefy SUV had arrived ‘just in time for Armageddon’.

During the interim, thousands of column inches and hours of video were dedicated to predicting what the production version might look like, how it would perform and debating whether or not it could ever truly match the rough-and-ready utilitarian charm of the time-served original.

Across the Atlantic, meanwhile, Ford America had quietly been breathing new life into another dead horse by creating a 21st century revamp of its own celebrated off-roader, the late lamented Bronco that was dropped from the range in 1996 after a 30-year production run.

Ford’s decision to revive the Bronco nameplate was partly down to the fact that original versions of the car have lately become hugely collectable.