Bronco

Make
Ford
Segment
SUV

We're all aware of what happens to pre-production cars. Once they've outlived their usefulness, it's off to the crusher. But it seems Ford has come up with a more useful way of using these vehicles.

Instead of destroying a pre-production Bronco, Darin Spreadbury created a trailer out of the in-demand SUV. Spreadbury, who works for Roush, is the head mechanic for Bronco and off-road projects. He explains that his tools couldn't fit in the off-roader, prompting him to design a trailer from a test vehicle destined for the crusher.

The brilliant creation was recently pressed into duty; the Bronco towing the trailer served as a support vehicle for the Ranger Raptor that recently won its class at the Baja 1000. Renowned photographer Larry Chen, who shared the photos on Instagram, described it as "the coolest Baja 1000 chase setup I've ever seen."

The trailer comes from a two-door model, explains the designer. "Just by looking at the lines of [the] Bronco, the four-door brought the rear quarter [panel] over more of the rear tire. The two-door brings it in front of the tire, so the lines were perfect for it to be cut right there."

This not only makes for a more spacious trailer, but it looks neater too. For Spreadbury, it wasn't just a matter of sawing a Bronco in half and calling it a day - the trailer is packing some seriously impressive features. The best piece of equipment has to be the air suspension, which allows the trailer to raise and lower itself with ease.

This should provide a stable ride over rutted tracks and treacherous surfaces, but also allows individuals to unload heavier objects with ease.

The trailer also features the rear brake setup you'd find on a regular Bronco. Spreadbury explains that this enabled him to keep the handbrake functionality active. "One feature this gives me is to be able to set the factory parking brake. I can hit a trigger and it locks the brakes. It won't go anywhere when I'm detached."

Another nifty feature is fuel storage. Gasoline is fed to the secondary fuel cell via the trailer's fuel door. As you'd expect, the trailer is filled with plenty of mechanical equipment and all the things a support vehicle would need. It's certainly one of the coolest trailers we've seen in recent memory.

Toyota built a similar setup for SEMA 2020, creating a trailer out of a disused Tacoma truck. It would be great to see more manufacturers build interesting things out of pre-production vehicles, much like Hyundai did with one of its Ioniq 5 test vehicles.