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2021 Ford Bronco goes mudding and it looks good doing it

New video shows the Bronco in its element of expertise.

Sean Szymkowski
It all started with Gran Turismo. From those early PlayStation days, Sean was drawn to anything with four wheels. Prior to joining the Roadshow team, he was a freelance contributor for Motor Authority, The Car Connection and Green Car Reports. As for what's in the garage, Sean owns a 2016 Chevrolet SS, and yes, it has Holden badges.
Sean Szymkowski
2 min read

We were supposed to finally see the 2021 Ford Bronco a couple months ago, but the coronavirus pandemic put the kibosh on such plans. While we don't have a new date for when we'll see the highly anticipated off-road SUV, video of it mudding should tide fans over.

Bronco Nation published video last Friday of the SUV in its element tackling some sludgy mud, and the Bronco looks to have no issues tackling things. The camouflaged prototypes seen here are of the two-door variety, but there'll also be a four-door version. Make no mistake, the two-door will be the cooler of the couple.

Ford is, unsurprisingly, keeping tight-lipped about the SUV. All we know is that Ford still plans to debut the Bronco sometime this spring. While Memorial Day kicks off summer in its own fashion, the season technically doesn't end until June 20, so a debut sometime this month is almost guaranteed. Unless Ford plans to drag things out longer, that is.

Ford Bronco comes to life in off-road-ready R form

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As for what we do know, the Bronco will be mighty retro in its looks and leaked photos confirm the design. It'll likely have all sorts of ways to remove the roof and doors and a top-tier engine will likely be a V6. Less powerful models will likely find motivation from a turbo-four engine. Just last week, though, we learned more about the Bronco's rumored seven-speed manual transmission.

We heard about the possibility of Ford slapping a manual gearbox in the Bronco two years ago, but the latest report pegs first gear to be a "crawler" gear. That'd give the SUV a slow-speed gear that provides oodles of torque in the process, and it could even forego a two-speed transfer case. Ford didn't return a request for comment on the possible gear, so we'll simply have to wait and see if the rumors pan out.

So, in the meantime, take in the mudding zen as we likely approach a proper Bronco reveal.

Watch this: The Ford Bronco is going to Baja