Well, these two new Ford Broncos had a disappointingly short life. Two pre-production models of Ford's hot new SUV got severely torched after some sort of equipment failure with the transport truck they were being carried on caused a fire. The pitiful sight was shared by a user on Bronco 6G, with the images captured at a truck stop in Greenville, Illinois.

Both Bronco variants sustained severe smoke damage to their bodies. What appears to be a Wildtrak model finished in Rapid Red was especially badly damaged; the grille is missing entirely and elements like the driver's side mirror were totally destroyed.

"I can say with 100 percent certainty [that] it was either the truck driver running a flat tire too long, or he had a brake hanging up and it caught fire," said the user by the name of Michael who shared these images. He made it clear that the Broncos themselves were not at fault, especially since Ford has already had to issue a recall not too long ago for pickups that could catch fire.

With the Bronco already affected by a production delay, the last thing Ford needs is for any prospective customers to think that they're a fire risk. Some commenters took a humorous view of the spectacle, questioning whether these weren't perhaps Broncos with a "Smokey top look" or some sort of blacked-out exterior package.

While these particular Broncos didn't win their battle with the fire, we imagine that the Bronco Wildland Fire Rig Concept just might. It's one of our favorite Bronco concepts and comes with firefighting equipment like water tanks, a fire hose reel, and a chainsaw.

For regular customers with a bit more patience, it may be worthwhile waiting for the 2022 Bronco as it'll offer a revised color palette over the 2021 version. Let's just hope that these two burnt Broncos are the last of the rugged off-roaders to be involved in any kind of incident on the way to their final destination.