It was inevitable that the new Ford Bronco would meet the same fate as the old Land Rover Defender and Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen: drafted into service as a hugely impractical six-wheel conversion.
I like a 6×6 layout on something like the G-Wagen or the Defender, but I fear this upcoming conversion of the Ford Bronco from Maxlider Brothers Customs won’t live up to the image of off-road 6×6 trucks. It’s down to one critical design choice: Where the Mercedes and Land Rovers eschewed an extended cab to graft on a truck bed instead — inspired by the military or commercial variations that have been offered over the years — this Bronco doesn’t have a bed. So it looks ridiculous.
The cargo bed is an important, and I’d argue it’s the defining feature of a 6×6. The presence of the additional wheels, in theory, would be so the vehicle can take on extra payload (or perhaps better off-road geometry in certain circumstances), which is why dump trucks have so many wheels under them. While these overpriced toys for rich folk don’t actually need any of their modifications and will never be used for extra payload, it’s still the purpose that drives the traditional, and signature, 6×6 body style.
And this Ford Bronco from the Maxlider Brothers doesn’t do it in these renders. It has the extra wheels, but no bed. Just more cabin, with the boxy greenhouse stretched to cover the additional axle, maybe doubling the available cargo volume of the production model. That is, if the interior doesn’t get completely customised and overhauled, which it probably will.
For the exterior view of the truck, it sort of spoils the 6×6 effect not to have a bed. Now it just looks like a dangerous limousine. And I really do not like that the customizers are marketing this Bronco with police-style black paint offset by grey text and accents.
There’s no word on power modifications yet, but one would hope the shop gives it a boost to go along with that extra axle. Maxlider Brothers Customs has announced plans to sell the Bronco 6×6 next year starting at $US399,000 ($523,209), and it ships with at least a lift kit, some obvious suspension modifications, BF Goodrich rubber and a roof-mounted off-road cage.
What do you think of the look? Do you mind a 6×6 SUV style, or do you wish they had made it work into more of a pickup truck like everything else people pay this kind of money for?