From a Simple Letter to a Dream Come True: The Story of Evie's Bronco
Moab, Utah, is known for stunning red rock arch formations surrounded by some of the most difficult and technical off-road trails in the country. It’s the kind of environment that we designed the Ford Bronco® to excel in — beautiful yet challenging, and natural yet extreme. It’s the type of environment that the Bronco SUV is built for.
Moab is also the perfect place to debut two one-of-a-kind project vehicles built to highlight the extreme modularity and personalization potential of Bronco for almost any trail or style.
The first Bronco project vehicle is based on the Bronco Badlands® four-door. We call it the Bronco Off-Roadeo™: Arches Edition, for the red rock arches found in the Moab area and at nearby Arches National Park. This first project vehicle was envisioned as an ultimate all-around option for taking you and four friends around Moab’s grueling trails. It gets more extreme from here.
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The Bronco Off-Roadeo: Cliffhanger Project Vehicle is what happens when the team sets out to level up a two-door Bronco for low, slow, technical off-road obstacles. It starts with a monster set of 40-inch BFGoodrich Baja T/A Evo 3.0S tires and Fox Live Valve shocks. Together, these special upgrades help provide more ground clearance and an even more capable off-road experience. 18-inch beadlock-capable Method wheels and custom fender flares and wheel arches help visually plant the Cliffhanger Project Vehicle on nearly any trail. Just looking at Cliffhanger, you know it means business.
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With the Arches and Cliffhanger Project Vehicles, we’re also paying homage to Moab’s stunning natural terrain — which includes public land and trails that Ford works to preserve via the Bronco Wild Fund and Tread Lightly sponsorship — and its status as one of North America’s off-roading jewels.
So why call Arches and Cliffhanger Off-Roadeo project vehicles? Moab also hosts one of the five Bronco Off-Roadeo® locations for Bronco customers. Included with the purchase of any Bronco, Bronco Sport, or Bronco Raptor model, the Off-Roadeo experience teaches owners of all skill levels how to off-road responsibly in their Bronco.
Inspired by Moab’s iconic red slick rock, the Bronco Color and Materials Design team, led by Kellie Walters and Brad Fishkin, wrapped both Bronco Off-Roadeo project vehicles with a distinct matte protective film that’s similar to the factory-applied matte clear film now available on production Bronco four-door models. The combination of the metallic shade and matte finish create brilliant flares of color in sunlight, similar to what’s found with the Shelter Green of the Raptor® vehicle color palette.
Color-keyed Code Orange accents, including on the beadlock rings and trail sights, as well as custom Code Orange graphics inspired by the stunning stone arches around Moab (along with a few neat Easter eggs) complement the vibrant wrap.
Our Design team, with lead designer Justin Sorum, saw a great connection between Moab’s unique geologic arch formations, and the Bronco’s easy open air that allows you to enjoy the outdoors – the fact you can see through both. So, we accented the roof rails Code Orange as well, so each vehicle has its own arch. On the Cliffhanger project vehicle, we created more open air see-through with the Ford Performance tube doors with color accents and unique graphic plate.
There are also fun Easter eggs embedded in the project vehicles, including graphics on the vehicle interiors inspired by the petroglyphs at Newspaper Rock and Horseshoe Canyon.
Both the Bronco Off-Roadeo: Cliffhanger Concept and Arches Edition will be on display at the Bronco Stampede at Moab all week. On top of these concepts, Ford will be offering ride-and-drive opportunities on a custom off-road course in the center of town and Bronco Nation will be hosting trail drives around Moab.
Robert Gelardi is chief designer of the Ford Bronco.
