If Rod Hall ever had the opportunity to race a new, 2021 Ford Bronco, we think it just might resemble this rendering. And odds are he would have left the competition in the dust. Rod Hall dedicated his life to racing four-wheel-drive vehicles, accomplishing one of the most impressive racing resumes ever seen in the professional off-road racing world by winning over 160 major events and a variety of SCORE, HDRA, and BiTD championship titles.
One of his coolest accomplishments was racing in every single one of the first fifty SCORE Baja 1000, one of the most prestigious off-road races in the world. From its inception in 1967 (then called the NORRA Mexican 1000 Rally) to his last start racing a Hummer in 2017 when he was nearly 80, Hall collected 25 class wins and thousands of memories. One of those wins in the Baja 1000 was his overall race win in the 1968 Baja 1000 behind the wheel of a Bill Stroppe-built Ford Bronco. It arguably stands as the only overall win in a factory-chassis four-wheel-drive vehicle.
With all the chatter surrounding the new 2021 Ford Bronco, Rod Hall’s nostalgic Bronco has surged in popularity. The stars aligned perfectly to celebrate the classic early race Bronco while welcoming the new Bronco to market. First, Rod Hall raced his Samco Fabrication-restored, race-winning 1968 Ford Bronco in the 2016 NORRA Mexican 1000 rally. Then, the Geiser Brothers-built Ford Bronco R, a slight foreshadowing of the production Bronco to come, paid homage to the race Bronco by competing in the 2019 Score Baja 1000 with Cameron Steele’s Desert Assassins team. And now with the official unveiling of the 2021 Ford Bronco, we’re seeing how the look of Hall’s early 1968 Bronco would translate to the new Bronco, more than 50 years later. We dig.
Designer Abimelec Arellano, creator of the 6×6 Bronco, whipped up this Ford Performance-fettled, Shelby GT500-powered Rod Hall Ford Bronco digital concept, clothing it in modern 2021 Bronco aesthetics—and pushing more power than the restored early Bronco’s carb’d 347. It goes a different, more straightforward direction than the super burly Bronco R—but to be fair, there’s not much actual Bronco to that Bronco. We’re also happy to note that, as on the original Rod Hall machine, this new version sports MotorTrend sponsorship on its hood.
This digital version is exactly race-prepped like Hall’s restored machine, a detail that keeps this Bronco less cluttered and ready to hit the beach. The paint scheme, however, pays homage to the original Hall Bronco, and the KC HiLiTES HID lights are spot-on with the restored version. The tires are BFGoodrich, of course, but that offset could be a little too much for feasibility, and we wonder how those fenders would hold up in rugged Baja terrain. Like the restored Bronco, the tailgate and back seat have been removed to allow for a spare tire. The suspension would definitely be less of a kidney-buster than the original’s stiff-as-a-board setup.
Although it’s been more than five decades since Hall won the Baja 1000 in his early Bronco, flights of fancy like these illustrations help bridge the gap between then and now. Whether you prefer the early Bronco or the new, bigger, contemporary Bronco, it’s fair to say this Rod Hall Ford Bronco concept has all the right vintage vibes.
