Aussie Creates New Ford Bronco

AUSTRALIAN automotive engineering company Premcar has revealed its latest new-vehicle project — a reimagined Ford Bronco — at the recent Monterey Car Week in the US.

Illinois-based Gateway Bronco, a manufacturer of reimagined classic Ford Bronco SUVs, partnered with Premcar to develop the chassis, suspension and steering for its latest 1960s-inspired LUXE-GT model, which has been unveiled at The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering during the Monterey Car Week event.

Melbourne-based Premcar, which has recently been behind the Warrior range of high-end variants based on the Nissan Navara and Patrol, developed the Bronco project under the codename Pegasus.

It developed the ladder-frame structure with a 2350mm wheelbase, not far off the original 1966 Bronco’s 2337mm wheelbase, and with a 1623mm (front) / 1630mm (rear) track width.

The latest Bronco interpretation gets Ford’s latest 343kW (460hp) 5.0-litre ‘Coyote’ V8 engine, 10R80 10-speed automatic transmission, and two-stage shift-on-the-fly all-wheel drive system.

In 1966, it had a 78kW (105hp) inline six of 2.8-litres driving through a three-speed manual gearbox with column-shift change and a two-speed transfer case. A 4.7-litre (289cu.inch) V8 with 149kW (200hp) was optional. An automatic wasn’t available until 1973.

Gateway Bronco’s new Premcar-developed platform is also equipped with safety equipment including electronic stability control (ESC), traction control (TC) and anti-lock braking (ABS).

Premcar’s engineering director Bernie Quinn said that the Gateway Bronco LUXE-GT was more than just a reimagined classic but “a new car.”

“The Premcar team has developed this high-performance platform to new-car standards using the same processes we apply when we develop new vehicles for global automakers.”

Gateway Bronco’s CEO and president, Seth Burgett said that developing the new LUXE-GT necessitated world-class OEM know-how.

“The Premcar team has achieved remarkable results with this new chassis and suspension system,” he said.

“They’ve helped us reposition our classic-style LUXE-GT Bronco series into a new market realm. This is now a new car with classic style, not a classic car with new style.”

The two-year platform development program went through extensive CAD (computer-aided design) and FEA (finite element analysis) phases before prototype construction and testing. Specific suspension components were also newly developed for the program.

All engineering and development work was conducted at Premcar’s Engineering and Production Centre in Melbourne and included heavy-duty testing in remote regions of Australia.

Gateway Bronco’s new Premcar-developed ladder-frame chassis will be made in Detroit, US by Premcar’s global engineering partner, RLE International.

Vehicle assembly will take place at Gateway Bronco’s production facility in Illinois.

No pricing has been announced for the vehicles. Gateway advertises some of its previous Bronco models priced from $A320,000.

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