It's long past time Ford offered a fixed top (or one piece "semi-removable" top) Bronco.
They just need to market it as a Lincoln.
They just need to market it as a Lincoln.
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A lot of people with no interest in off-roading bought the Bronco for its coolness factor. The Everett doesn't have that and wouldn't have appealed to that market.
All the calls of "you should've bought something else" hold no water to someone like me who would never settle for a 4 door. Show me a new 2 door hardtop that can match my 2005 ZR2 Blazer. (with 5 speed manual trans) The Bronco, even with the removable top is the only thing that comes close.
The answer to the OP's question is, Ford would build a solid top if the R&D and manufacturing costs were justified by the take rate and what people are willing to pay over the existing top options. My guess is they did a market analysis and determined the juice wasn't worth the squeeze. You may want a fixed top, but my guess is very few people want one. And of those that do want one, most of them wouldn't pay that much extra for it, and would buy the Bronco with the 4 piece hard top that it already comes with.
It's interesting that if Ford had not shit their pants with hard tops, there would be very few threads on the various topics surrounding hard tops.
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On the current OEM you can remove the split panels over the driver and front passenger without removing the roof rack. But apparently the second panel over the back seat requires rack removal.
I say apparently because my Bronco doesn’t get built until next week and I am going strictly off information on here and you tube.
I agree with the op for the most part, a 1 piece semi permanent top like the 1st through 4th gens had would be great. Those of you who run 6 months a year topless likely don't live in apart of the country where that's not possible which is well over 50% of the US. The best way would be the 1 piece semi permanent hard top on 2 and 4 doors or the option of a fully functional soft top on 2 or 4 doors. The removable or soft top on the Bronco is hardly it's major selling point there's so much more. A lot of people on this forum could use some lessons in civility, you can voice a differing opinion without being a horse's a** to others. Frankly this thread is getting about as out of hand as the 2dr vs 4dr threads.
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I can count on my one hand the amount of times I offroad a year. I can't even begin to count on my hands and feet the amount of times I threw the top back and/or removed the doors and windows.
Very few vehicles have the presence and pizazz of a Bronco, and having tested a few Jeeps, they don't even compare. I wouldn't be here if they didn't offer manual with the 2dr, and the fact we gotta 2dr model alone is worthwhile.
If you wanna hardtop, there's always the FJ Cruiser
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Fair enough, let me rephrase it: The off road enthusiasts and people that think the Bronco is cool would still be interested, but I still don't see how the Bronco's launch would be successful with a similar model cannibalizing its market.
There's a significant number of people who bought the Bronco thinking it'd be a cool SUV to bomb around town in, not realizing how "unrefined" it was, and decided to trade it in. If Ford offered another SUV built on the same platform but with more luxury options, I'd have a hard time believing it wouldn't negatively impact Bronco sales.
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If Ford doesn't provide an option then competitors will.
My guess is the new Land Cruiser will be a better option for 20-30% of the current Bronco owners - who use their Broncos as pavement queens. The LC lacks the hardcore off-roadness but it will be quieter and probably have a better interior. The new 234 Wrangler kinda moved in this direction with the fancier interior.
I live 5 hours away from any serious type of offroading. I live 8 hours away from the nearest mountains to the west and 10 hours away from any mountains to east. The highway noise from my Bronco is fatiguing after 4 hours, and 10 times worse to my wife and daughter who require hearing aids. Because my family would benefit from a quieter vehicle, most members on this board suggest I drive a Bronco Sport instead. EFF that.
I would be all in on a solid top. And throw in frames around the door windows as well. I want a comfortable highway experience and still be able to climb level 7-9 trails in Moab with 37” tires using a mild lift. 4Runners and Explorers don’t have front lockers and can’t fit tires that big without significant and costly modifications. The removable top is not a selling feature I care about. If Ford can build Rangers and Broncos in the same factory floor, they could have a solid top Bronco option in there as well.
I would be all in on a solid top. And throw in frames around the door windows as well. I want a comfortable highway experience and still be able to climb level 7-9 trails in Moab with 37” tires using a mild lift. 4Runners and Explorers don’t have front lockers and can’t fit tires that big without significant and costly modifications. The removable top is not a selling feature I care about. If Ford can build Rangers and Broncos in the same factory floor, they could have a solid top Bronco option in there as well.
I am not sure why they didn’t use framed windows. If the doors are on and windows down there isn’t much difference. If the doors are off it doesn’t matter, and the vehicle frame is there at the top anyway. So it wasn’t really about “open air freedom” or such.
They wanted the gimmick of storing all the doors in the back of the Bronco. The frameless windows are one of my biggest complaints. I have to re-index mine all the time. And they rattle when I lower them a couple of inches.
That makes sense, I didn’t even think about the storage point.
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