The first stop on the Ford adventure I went on last week was not to drive a custom car, but to traipse into a field to look at a bunch of factory-customized Broncos. This all seemed normal to me. Being a car journalist means getting dragged from one place to another like a toddler on a leash.
“I don’t know if any of you noticed the pink blooms as you were walking down, I planted all of those last night just for you,” joked senior designer Bhavna Mistry as we stood in the verdant grass of southern Michigan.
Behind her was a bright Oxford White four-door Bronco with streaks of pink, magenta, and another, lighter pink. I generally love a pink vehicle, and the contrast between the implied toughness of a Bronco with the historical perception of pink really worked for me.
This is the first in the Horizon Series from Ford’s Custom Garage, which will be an annual drop (think of a colorway on a Nike Air Force 1) limited to 1,000 units.
“The Horizon Series is all about the color story, it is inspired by different parts of the world,” says Mistry. “Every story starts with a place and this one starts with Utah. The color palette is inspired by the rare natural phenomena that happens.”
Based on the Outer Banks four-door Bronco, the light pink grille is your first clue that this is a bit more than just a sticker package. It stands out quite well against the white, and it’s curious to me that this is also available in Shadow Black, Avalanche Gray, and Ruby Red. Actually, this might look good in Red.
The Method wheels were developed with a little of that berry color on the center cap, which is a nice touch.
The graphics on the side are “optional” if you don’t want to commit to the full treatment. That is wild to me. It’s a little 1970s in the best way, and optioning one of these without them feels incomplete. If you’re ordering one, please order it with the full stickers.
“The graphics on the body side are a suggestive, abstract interpretation of the landscapes that inspired us and carry the same energy as those magical moments we chased,” said Mistry.
All of this doesn’t diverge much from the regular Outer Banks, mechanically, so why even bother? There are two details that make this a special Bronco. The first is that there’s a little serialized console badge, so you know you’ve got the 874th (or whatever) of these built. That’s important to some.
To me, the Katkzkin leather seats in that bright berry color are what stand out to me. I don’t think everyone could pull this off, nor do I think many other automakers would attempt such a bold color. Too many interiors are just a collection of gray, medium gray, and dark gray tones.
You can order a Desert Rising Bronco starting today, though expect to pay $13,695 on top of the price of an Outer Banks, which is $48,190 before fees, so probably closer to $64,000.
I’m sure they’re already out looking for the next location for a Horizon Series, so I’d love to hear which location you think they should use as inspiration. If they don’t want to travel too far, Bear Lake on the Idaho/Utah border has this almost Caribbean blue water I have never forgotten.
Top photo: Ford
This is cool, but I don’t think its $14k cool.
I can see this being popular with a certain demo. That demo is already partly buying broncos. But on the extreme end why spend $100k on a 25 year old jeep that’s been redone in a similar way when you can get a new bronco for a significant savings.
I will never buy or drive a Bronco. But gun to my head, this one would be the last I’d pick. I don’t need people wondering whether I won the Mary Kay Cosmetics contest for the quarter.
But the Method wheels look nice. So there’s that.
Gun to my head, this is the first Bronco I’d pick. Sure, I’d be the only cis het man driving a pink car, but my daughter would love it.
I didn’t think of it until you mentioned your daughter but it has an almost Barbie color palette.
I would absolutely drive this.
More colors, more good.
Gating more colors behind stupid limited editions that only appeal to collectors, very bad.
I’m giving this a thumbs down because $14000 is too flipping much for an appearance package. These aren’t going to sell to people who want a cool color, they’re going to sell to rich a-holes who want to show up to the country club in a vehicle that says “$14000 is f-it money to me”.
I love the look, but I could get graphics and have the seats reupholstered for a lot less. Just make this an option package at a reasonable price. I don’t care for this limited edition crap to try to convince people to pay more (and do so before they take the time to consider the purchase).
If they swapped the white for something ridiculous like neon green, or even teal, visually this would tempt me for ridiculous reasons. As-is, and for 13k more? Nah.
The article noted it’s also available on black, gray, and red. Red would probably look the best, though gray would be a neat throwback with the pink/rose accents (some of which are optional).
I personally hate red cars, and black and grey are nothing like the neon green I’m saying I find appealing, so those options don’t really change the substance of what I said.
I like the neon green idea, especially if Eruption Green was used as a contrast color.
Actually, now I think about it, I bet the black version will look like Muffin’s Powerwheels from Bluey. Up to the beholder if that’s good or bad.
As for the next location, since the trim is “Outer Banks” they should go there. Nags Head saltbox gray, Hatteras Inlet blue/green, whitecap surf, yellowfin tuna… a lot of inspiration available there.
Bronco, My Little Pony edition here.
Thanks but no thanks.
I’d get that as it reminds me of popular colors from my home planet.
Pink shirt? All day long. Pink seats? Hard pass.
They look like the color would come off on your clothes. And your clothes if you own this vehicle would likely be white.
So on second thought, a win for their target consumer?
Katzkin has a pretty good reputation. I’m not particularly worried about color fastness on these.
Well, maybe a little if I were wearing white. Or if a woman wearing white pants wanted a ride on a warmer day.
Love the option to have the Bronco like this, but I’m absolutely over the ‘limited to x’ thing. Here and elsewhere, like shoes, watches, etc. Make it a permanent option or I really don’t care. Sure, FOMO sells, but I think the pendulum has gone too far. Even if I like something if I find out it is a limited edition, I’m instantly out.
Make stripes/appearance packages a thing again, permanently. Not at that price, tho.
I’m not going to wait in front of a Swatch store with a thousand idiots to buy a plastic watch that looks like an Omega Speedmaster (or, God forbid, a Royal Oak) any more than I’m going to pay 3x the retail price for one to a reseller. There are lots of real watches out there for similar money that won’t wind up at the bottom of a drawer when the fad passes (or the battery runs out, whichever comes first).
While I agree with the sentiment, I think these only exist because of this limited crap. Where it’s limited, it creates an artificial demand with some people that might not exist enough to otherwise justify production and it doesn’t require so much with forecasting as there’s a built-in quantity from the start. Being limited also makes for more stories run in the media on a vehicle that’s largely out of the news as it’s been in production for a while. Prices can also be raised for it being a limited edition, but with only 1000 made (with around 2900 Ford dealerships in the US, most wouldn’t even see one), if it’s a failure, there aren’t going to be an embarrassing number of them collecting leaves underneath them in dealer parking lots—they can just quietly remove exterior graphics and discount remaining inventory, then cancel the series or move on to less polarizing colors. Were this just a regular option, it’s not unlikely that they’d have trouble selling even fewer of them than the planned 1000.
I could do without the grille being pink, but I dig it. $13k is too much, though.
I’m surprised Beau wasn’t involved in this (or was he and it just wasn’t mentioned?)
Beau is almost certainly getting one and I look forward to the article about it
I expect it to sell within 24 hours. Faster if he puts it out front on Roscoe.
Obviously it wouldn’t be a “Should I Sell It?” car but a regular Galpin dealer stock item.
Looks great. $64,000 is fucking insanity.
Agreed. I’m struggling to see where there is $13k worth of anything here. The seats are maybe $5k at most, the vinyl and paint maybe another $2k, so unless those wheels are $6k this seems like a bad value that could be replicated far cheaper after the fact.
Corporate greed is a scourge that takes no prisoners…but Ford and Farley’s level of greed is downright astounding.
That $5k for the seats might be cheaper if you wait for one of the sales, too. Katzkin, last I checked, was going to charge about $3500 for what I wanted during a sale a couple years back, and mine includes ventilated seats, so this could go cheaper.
And, considering they should be doing the initial upholstery and not removing any previous work, I’d think cheaper than consumer replacement price.
As somebody who constantly says “cars should come in colors again” this makes me happy.
$13k for a Pepto Bronco makes my stomach hurt.
The wheels! The looks lands somewhere between alloys and steelies, and I like it. They would look just as good unpainted.
Amen. Back in the 80s, GM had these fantastic 5 spoke steelies that gave you like 80% of the style of alloys but with 50% more durability. I really miss those…GM put them on everything and they worked.
There is only 1 off roader that looks right in pink!
https://www.lrheritagecollection.org.uk/the-collection/vehicles/mil-02
The wild seats were initially my least favorite part, but after a few minutes I think I kind of like them the best. They commit, damnit.
It probably doesn’t help that light pinks often read as “something is wrong with that grey” to my eyes.
Related: Autopian colorblind accessibility when?
Wow – This is my new Mojo Dojo Casa SUV!
Because Broncos are Horses – and Horses are just Men extenders.
Now where’s my big fur coat and my guitar?
If this doesn’t win COTD, I’m rioting.
This thing’s rad. The stickers should definitely not be optional.
Also, how have I never seen a Bronco with the lift-off roof panels? So good. It makes it look like one of The Bishop’s sliding-panel designs.
I checked, they come standard with a soft top. The lift off hard panels are an $1800 option.
This is the setup the Bronco Free Wheelin’ package should have – stripes on the sides only, not the hood too. It’s just the right amount.
If my daughter finds out this exists, I’m cooked.
Ha! I was just considering sending the article to my own daughter and decided it was not wise.
right there with you.
If it’s between this, or a generic CUV, I know what I’m picking
Fortunately my daughter is old enough to have purchased her own Bronco, called Bro Bro and has added lots of pink accessories. Whew.
Sorry, I’m going to try very very hard not to write the words “Barbie Dream Bronco” more than this one time, but it’s going to be difficult. They suggest themselves.
This smacks of a committee getting together to try to market cars to women specifically, and we know that that is always a big, dumb, really insulting mistake. If they move more than 100 of these over the entire interval that they’re available, I will be surprised. Considering how much extra this package costs, I’ll be surprised if they sell 50.
It’s literally just an appearance package.
It’s possible to simply prefer a pink vehicle without getting into gender theory or feeling insulted.
They will sell thousands of them, if the pink Jeeps are any indication.
Well said!
An appearance package that costs over $13,000. That’s a pretty big pill in my book.
I must be in a somewhat less impressionable end of the country, I haven’t seen any pink Jeeps at all. And I do see a fair number of brodozers, so I do know they’ll throw a ridiculous amount of money at their rides.
I’ll hedge my bet: I reckon I never see more than 5 in Tennessee. Four of them will be in Nashville.
Not many people buying these are very sensitive to price. These are largely luxury fashion vehicles (not luxury as in luxurious, but as in more than is necessary to purchase and run) and, like Wranglers, they are really popular with women (not that exclusively women would buy this, but I would put good money down it will be most of them).
Absolutely. Women feel insulted when automakers try to cater specifically to women, be it by dumbing a car down or with gimmicks that women don’t actually care about. This is like the pink Jeeps, where it’s the regular vehicle, only pink. Excellent, I’d buy a pink Bronco or Jeep in a heartbeat if I were in the market for either.
Now, if only Mazda made a metallic pink ND…
I’m not a woman. I’d drive one. Not everything is gender.
I am a man with interests that are of the “traditionally masculine” variety. Sports, heavy music, guitars, fast cars, cooking meats, etc.
…If these were more reasonably priced I’d rock one without hesitation and my favorite color is purple. I am heterosexual but I’ve never thought twice about going to a gay bar with my queer friends, and I’ve always had a great time when I do. I watch way more women’s soccer than men’s soccer because I think their game is a lot grittier and more entertaining.
The moral of the story is….who the fuck cares? Enjoy what you enjoy and do it proudly. If you’re secure enough in your own identity shit like a hot pink Bronco won’t bother you in the slightest. Hell, if you’re like the majority of the people here you’ll probably think it’s rad.
Other than the price. Dear god…
Yeah the price is nuts. I’m a cheap bastard first and foremost, you’d never catch me paying this kind of premium for an appearance package. But I really do like it, and I’m glad it’s out there.
Yeah, I’ve been called a variety of versions of a “man’s man” by multiple women and I love a real purple (not that purple that looks black or like dark maroon most of the time) and frequently ride a pink/yellow/turquoise ACME rocket bike which, incidentally, is amazing for attracting women and starting conversations (and some weirdos, too, but weirdos can be interesting).
I’m 100% down with the enjoy what you like sentiment. Growing up when I did, however, has left a mark on me that persists to this day. I’m not proud of it, but I in my mind I still hear echoes of things shouted 40 and 50 years ago, and it continues to color my first impressions. It really has a strong Barbie vibe in my head.
So I wouldn’t do the grey Bronco with pink accents, but I absolutely did the hot pink suspender pants and teal shirt back in the day – less Barbie, more Culture Club/Miami Vice. And a mint green Bronco with white hockey stripes, I might do that. I wouldn’t pay $13k extra for it, though.
There’s already 3 custom pink Broncos that live by me and I live just outside Columbus,OH. Ford will move every last one of them
I would rock the hell out of this if I got a Bronco.
It’s too expensive (both since I’m not buying a new Bronco and because $13k is too much for this option), but I’m pretty decidedly a masculine man and this appeals to me.
I wasn’t at the launch like Matt, but nothing here seems to indicate they’re trying to sell this to women only. It sounds like they found a cool color and decided to do something fun with it.
In some cultures, pink is the color of warriors.
So they looked at the Tuscadero pink jeep wranglers and said they could do better?