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Sunny Joe

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I've been lucky enough to see the actual 4-door Bronco raw, unpainted sheet metal shell, without any add-ons whatsoever. It was a quick 5 minute look while the vehicle shell was sitting on a loading dock. I'm a professional truck driver. Please keep in mind that I'm not mechanically-minded, and I wasn't prepared to take mental notes. I do remember a few things though. These observations pertain to the 4-door only:

1. It was similar in size and width to the current 2020 Ford Ranger - certainly as wide, and possibly slightly wider. The overall width was seemingly close to the overall width of a 2019 F-150, but probably not quite as wide.

2. It was somewhat longer than I would have expected. I poked my head into the passenger side window, and it seemed fairly roomy.

3. The mirrors will definitely be mounted in front of the windshield, as there was a substantial square hole (sitting sideways in a diamond-fashion in relation to the side fender) located where a standard vehicle antennae would be situated on say a 2019 Ford F-150. I'll use the 2019 Ford F-150 as a reference because I own one.

4. The windshield is indeed for the most part vertical. You've seen the spy shots and the angle.

5. The hood is LONG, WIDE, and FLAT.
I do not remember a pronounced hood scoop, but I believe it has one to some degree. The hood has the side flares similar to the original 1960s version, where the interior portion of the hood is lower than the sides of the hood. It's a definite, pronounced upswoop. I don't remember the front of the hood looking quite like the render above, as it seemed to be that one could view the hood side flares from the front of the vehicle. I'm not positive on that, but the hood side flares were definitely pronounced and played a major role in the styling - think: 1960s, but on a grander scale.

6. Along the side of the vehicle, just in front of the A-pillar, there is a definite upswoop in the sheet metal starting from the door jam and finishing just past where the mirrors will sit. This upswoop is approximately 3" in height and 3" in length. There is a TWIN 3" x 3" upswoop toward the rear of the vehicle - probably immediately behind the rear door jam - and this creates a SYMMETRY in the sheet metal, where the top of the doors are the lowest part of the side of the vehicle, and where the hood and rear quarter-panel are the highest part of the side of the vehicle. Both the hood and rear quarter-panel seemed to be possibly equal in length - at least there was a similar length of sheet metal on both ends of the vehicle that were at the highest point. In my mind, it was almost as though the vehicle was broken up into 3 sections when viewed from the side: the hood being high, the doors being the lowest, and the rear quarter-panel again being high to match the hood height.

7. The rear window/tail gate window pillar (What is that, the D-pillar?) is not vertical as I remember it, but rather, it had a slight lean to it, as in a "fastback" lean, ever-so-slightly - but it was not vertical.

8. The sheet metal character lines on the sides of the vehicle were virtually non-existent, except I definitely remember a couple of things:

The wheels wells were ROUND, fairly large, and definitely pushed towards the front and rear bumpers - there is not much side sheet metal/overhang between the wheel wells and the bumpers. This should help with ground clearance.

There was a definite crease/character line that followed the round contour of the wheel wells, and this round crease "bumped-out" fairly substantially similar - but not quite as pronounced - to my 2019 Ford F-150. In other words, the sheet metal bump-out that followed the round wheel wells was enough on its own merit that I don't see a need for any additional plastic/rubber add-on wheel flares for the standard feature basic Bronco XL or XLT or Sport, or whatever they're gonna call it. The sheet metal can and probably will stand on its own for the average mall-crawler customer. There may be a "Raptor" version that offers the plastic wheel flares, but if you're looking to render a realistic version of the standard production vehicle, I would let the basic sheet metal do the talking.

There was a horizontal indention/character line in the side of the vehicle, that ran between the wheel wells. This character line is VERY similar to the indention that we have seen in the raw sheet metal of the "Baby Bronco" in the spy shot as it was rolling on the conveyer high above the manufacturing floor. This character line is approximately 2" in height and maybe 3/8" in depth. It looks as if a giant took his thumb, pressed it into the clay, and ran it in a horizontal straight line starting a few inches behind the front wheel well and finishing a few inches in front of the rear wheel well. It is deepest in the middle of the indention/character line, again, as if a giant thumb was smoothing out silicone caulk. This indention in the sheet metal is rounded on both ends of the horizontal line. See the "Baby Bronco" spy pic and you'll see an almost identical version of the same character line.
This line is located approximately 6-8" up from the bottom of the doors/rocker panel, and again, fades out abruptly in a rounded fashion maybe 6" before it reaches each wheel well.

9. The B-pillar was basically vertical, but, it was slightly wider at the bottom than at the top. I would guess that the top was 4" wide, and the bottom was 6" wide.

10. The C-pillar (the one that sits between the rear door window and the hatch window (yes, there is a hatch window, however it is shorter in width than you might imagine) is again basically a vertical pillar, but it is maybe 4" at the top, and a wider 8-10" at the bottom, as the rear door window side of the pillar flares slightly towards the front of the vehicle in a similar fashion as the B-pillar does, the rear side(hatch window side) of the C-pillar slants MUCH more dramatically towards the rear of the vehicle in a slightly "fastback" sense, hence, the bottom of the C-pillar sheet metal is definitely WIDER than the bottom of the B-pillar sheet metal.

11. There is a separate, small 3rd window behind the rear door window, and it's located between what I would call the C-pillar and the rear-most D-pillar. This window on the smaller side, and I would guess that it's maybe 10" wide along the top and 8" wide along the bottom. I remember it as possibly an odd-shaped window. Remember, the REAR SIDE of the C-pillar slants back in a "fastback" fashion, and the rear-most tail gate D-pillar slants forward as goes from the bottom to the top, again in a "fastback" fashion (only not on the same angle as the rear side of the C-pillar), and the "fastback" angle of the D-pillar is not nearly as pronounced as the rear side slant of the C-pillar. This creates an odd-shaped 3rd hatch window.

Whew! That last bit is hard to write, and probably harder to understand.

12. The greenhouse window area height is similar to your render, as it does NOT rise in a high fashion. It looks almost compressed in relation to the rest of the vehicle, at least on the 4-door version. The 2021 Bronco raw sheet metal left the impression that the greenhouse will have a similar height in relation to the overall vehicle as the Jeep Wrangler 4-door.

13. I paced off the 4-door shell - with no front or rear fascia and no spare tire, and it was an even 16'.
I've had good success with this method in the past. I had my workboots on, and I used the "walk the line" one foot in front of the other method.
I know it's almost exactly 16' in length, then add in any front or rear fascia and the spare tire.

I did not get the width of the vehicle.

My 2019 Ford F-150 Regular Cab, Short Box(6.5') is 209" in length. That's nearly 17.5' in length.
The raw metal shell measured 16' right on the button.
Now, add on front and rear bumpers and fascia, and you're at something approaching 17'-17.5'
Then, add the spare tire.

This Bad Boy is as long as my 2019 F-150 Regular Cab, Short Box - a.k.a., my "Ranchero Caliente'".

Hey, Ford doesn't make the Ranchero any longer, so what's a poor boy to do, but create your own...?
Caliente'?
Yes, my first vehicle was a '65 Mercury Comet "Caliente'".
Wimbledon White, with a Red interior, 289 c.u., 4-on-the-floor, and an 8-track player...
Vrooom-Vroooooom!

14. The tail light housings were large.
I remember the openings where the tail lights will fit as being approximately the size and shape of the 7" tablet that I'm holding in my hand.
That puts the housing area at 8" tall and 5" wide. They could have been even bigger, which would put them at 9" tall and 6" wide.
The openings were large, as in "chunky".

Basically, the raw, unpainted sheet metal looks like it will frame a large, boxy 2021 Ford Bronco.

I was careful to relay only the things that I can remember from a quick 5 minute walk-around. I DID see the vehicle, and the things I described are what I saw in real life.
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BAUS67

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I've been lucky enough to see the actual 4-door Bronco raw, unpainted sheet metal shell, without any add-ons whatsoever. It was a quick 5 minute look while the vehicle shell was sitting on a loading dock. I'm a professional truck driver. Please keep in mind that I'm not mechanically-minded, and I wasn't prepared to take mental notes. I do remember a few things though. These observations pertain to the 4-door only:

1. It was similar in size and width to the current 2020 Ford Ranger - certainly as wide, and possibly slightly wider. The overall width was seemingly close to the overall width of a 2019 F-150, but probably not quite as wide.

2. It was somewhat longer than I would have expected. I poked my head into the passenger side window, and it seemed fairly roomy.

3. The mirrors will definitely be mounted in front of the windshield, as there was a substantial square hole (sitting sideways in a diamond-fashion in relation to the side fender) located where a standard vehicle antennae would be situated on say a 2019 Ford F-150. I'll use the 2019 Ford F-150 as a reference because I own one.

4. The windshield is indeed for the most part vertical. You've seen the spy shots and the angle.

5. The hood is long, wide and flat. I do not remember a pronounced hood scoop, but I believe it has one to some degree. The hood has the side flares similar to the original 1960s version, where the interior portion of the hood is lower than the sides of the hood. It's a definite, pronounced upswoop. I don't remember the front of the hood looking quite like the render above, as it seemed to be that one could view the hood side flares from the front of the vehicle. I'm not positive on that, but the hood side flares were definitely pronounced and played a major role in the styling - think: 1960s, but on a grander scale.

6. Along the side of the vehicle, just in front of the A-pillar, there is a definite upswoop in the sheet metal starting from the door jam and finishing just past where the mirrors will sit. This upswoop is approximately 3" in height and 3" in length. There is a TWIN 3" x 3" upswoop toward the rear of the vehicle - probably immediately behind the rear door jam - and this creates a SYMMETRY in the sheet metal, where the top of the doors are the lowest part of the side of the vehicle, and where the hood and rear quarter-panel are the highest part of the side of the vehicle. Both the hood and rear quarter-panel seemed to be possibly equal in length - at least there was a similar length of sheet metal on both ends of the vehicle that were at the highest point. In my mind, it was almost as though the vehicle was broken up into 3 sections when viewed from the side: the hood being high, the doors being the lowest, and the rear quarter-panel again being high to match the hood height.

7. The rear window (What is that, the D-pillar?) is not vertical as I remember it, but rather, it had a slight lean to it, as in a "fastback" lean, ever-so-slightly - but it was not vertical.

8. The sheet metal character lines on the sides of the vehicle were virtually non-existent, except I definitely remember a couple of things:

The wheels wells were ROUND, fairly large, and definitely pushed towards the front and rear bumpers - there is not much side sheet metal/overhang between the wheel wells and the bumpers. This should help with ground clearance.

There was a definite crease/character line that followed the round contour of the wheel wells, and this round crease "bumped-out" fairly substantially similar - but not quite as pronounced - to my 2019 Ford F-150. In other words, the sheet metal bump-out that followed the round wheel wells was enough on its own merit that I don't see a need for any additional plastic/rubber add-on wheel flares for the standard feature basic Bronco XL or XLT or Sport, or whatever they're gonna call it. The sheet metal can and probably will stand on its own for the average mall-crawler customer. There may be a "Raptor" version that offers the plastic wheel flares, but if you're looking to render a realistic version of the standard production vehicle, I would let the basic sheet metal do the talking.

There was a horizontal indention/character line in the side of the vehicle, that ran between the wheel wells. This character line is VERY similar to the indention that we have seen in the raw sheet metal of the "Baby Bronco" in the spy shot as it was rolling on the conveyer high above the manufacturing floor. This character line is approximately 2" in height and maybe 3/8" in depth. It looks as if a giant took his thumb, pressed it into the clay, and ran it in horizontal straight line starting a few inches behind the front wheel well and finishing a few inches in front of the rear wheel well. It is deepest in the middle of the indention/character line, again, as if a giant thumb was smoothing out silicone caulk. This indention in the sheet metal is rounded on both ends of the horizontal line. See the "Baby Bronco" spy pic and you'll see an almost identical version of the same character line.
This line is located approximately 6-8" up from the bottom of the doors/rocker panel, and again, fades out abruptly in a rounded fashion maybe 6" before it reaches each wheel well.

9. The B-pillar was basically vertical, but, it was slightly wider at the bottom than at the top. I would guess that the top was 4" wide, and the bottom was 6" wide.

10. The C-pillar (the one that sits between the rear door window and the hatch window (yes, there is a hatch window, however it is shorter in width than you might imagine) is again basically a vertical pillar, but it is maybe 4" at the top, and a wider 8-10" at the bottom, as the rear door window side of the pillar flares slightly towards the front of the vehicle in a similar fashion as the B-pillar does, the rear side(hatch window side) of the C-pillar slants MUCH more dramatically towards the rear of the vehicle in a slightly "fastback" sense, hence, the bottom of the C-pillar sheet metal is definitely WIDER than the bottom of the B-pillar sheet metal.

11. There is a separate 3rd window behind the rear door window, and it's located between what I would call the C-pillar and the rear-most D-pillar. This window on the smaller side, and I would guess that it's maybe 10" wide along the top and 8" wide along the bottom. I remember it as possibly an odd-shaped window. Remember, the REAR SIDE of the C-pillar slants back in a "fastback" fashion, and the rear-most "D" pillar slants forward as goes from the bottom to the top, again in a "fastback" fashion (only not on the same angle as the rear side of the C-pillar), and the "fastback" angle of the D-pillar is not nearly as pronounced as the rear side slant of the C-pillar.

Whew! That last bit is hard to write, and probably harder to understand.

12. The greenhouse window area height is similar to your render, as it does NOT rise in a high fashion. It looks almost compressed in relation to the rest of the vehicle, at least on the 4-door version. The 2021 Bronco raw sheet metal left the impression that the greenhouse will have a similar height in relation to the overall vehicle as the Jeep Wrangler 4-door.

Basically, the raw, unpainted sheet metal looks like it will frame a large, boxy 2021 Ford Bronco.

I was careful to relay only the things that I can remember from a quick 5 minute semi-walk-around. I did see the vehicle, and the things I described are what I saw in real life.
Nice description !!! I think you did a good job. I have a had time describing stuff in print also. Some stuff is difficult, but I can picture what you are describing and it sounds like I was picturing in my head what it would look like. glad to know those ridges are in the fenders with the hood being lower. that's the EB style. Thanks for the inside info !! :cool::clap::like:
 

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...

I was careful to relay only the things that I can remember from a quick 5 minute semi-walk-around. I did see the vehicle, and the things I described are what I saw in real life.
Wow great! Which of the renders on this site are you closely comparing it to here? Which one looks the closest?
 

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GOOD JOB JOE !!! keep up the good work. :like:

edit: thanks to the admin for fixing.
 
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Were there exposed hinges for the front and rear door to be removed by? Did you get a feel of how the roof would be removed or what parts of it were permanent vs removable?
 

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One thing that stands out is that the pillars were even present at all ... did it have a metal roof (or any kind of roof)? A roll cage?

This would seem to defy the speculation of frameless windows. Frameless and topless don't go together well unless the ROPS is very bulky.
 

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If you can remember Joe, tailgate or swing gate ???

edit: as I wipe the drool from my chin ?? LOL
 
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If you can remember Joe, tailgate or swing gate ???

edit: as I wipe the drool from my chin ?? LOL
I can't remember. It all happened so fast. I was thinking that it might be the "Baby Bronco", and then I started adding 2 + 2.
Additional questions might jog my memory about some things, like, I just remembered, I paced off the length of the 4-door shell by putting one foot in front of the other because I've had good success with that in the past, and the overall total length of the vehicle was 16'.
This was the raw metal shell, and I have no idea how much longer it might measure once it has the actually bumpers - and spare tire - on it.
16'.
It was definitely the 2021 Ford Bronco.
 
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Sunny Joe

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For quick reference while you try to picture the descriptions ...

.
Ford Bronco My observations from seeing see the actual 4-door Bronco raw, unpainted sheet metal shell Jan27 2021_Bronco_OffRoad_009

.
Do you see the upswoop in the sheet metal immediately behind the rear window? That is real. It's a twin upswoop to the one near the front mirrors.
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