Believe it or not we are only eight days away from Christmas and while 2020 has been a wild ride for a whole multitude of reasons, some automakers are still doing what they can to help inject some much needed Christmas cheer in these interesting times. One of these companies is Ford but rather than go the usual route of building a holiday themed one-off Ford chose to recreate a touching moment in the storied history of the Ford Bronco which has never been seen by the general public, until now
Obscure Bronco moment nearly lost to history
The images in question shows a first gen Bronco frozen in a thick coating of ice with Santa behind the wheel. Shot inside one of the company’s older cold testing facilities in 1968, the images were originally taken for the the purpose of being featured in the company’s Ford World magazine. However, for reasons that are lost to time, the image was never published, and was instead tucked away in the Ford Archives where it resided for over 52 years.
That all changed when the image was rediscovered by Ford’s Heritage and Archives manager Ted Ryan. The discovery inspired Ford to recreate the event, and the company has now released both images with Santa returning to the cold testing lab and this time getting behind the wheel of the 2021 Bronco. The temperature in this particular room can get as low as 30 degrees below zero, and is used to test vehicle durability in extreme cold.
The Bronco in the recreation is a two door Outer Banks model that’s showing off a fiery Race Red hue. It’s also equipped with the Sasquatch package a modular style front bumper as well as a front mounted brush guard.
A festive way to ring in the holidays
Ford’s move here is not only an example of lost artifacts of being recovered or rediscovered, but it’s also a very festive way to ring in the holiday with some extra cheer. If your interested in owning a Bronco and having a chance to add your own spin to classic winter moments, the 2021 Bronco will begin to make its way to dealerships this summer. It was originally supposed to appear in spring, but Coronavirus once again reared its ugly head to Bronco and forced Ford to delay the rollout slightly due to supply shortages for some key components.
But with PS5s being as rare as a fur covered trout or a jackelope beyond the overpriced confines of Ebay, we think that this rugged trail warrior will be one wait that will be much more worthwhile in the end.
Carl Malek has been an automotive journalist for over 10 years. First starting out as a freelance photographer before making the transition to writing during college, his work has appeared on numerous automotive forums as well as websites such as Autoshopper.com.
Carl is also a big fan of British vehicles with the bulk of his devotion going to the Morgan Motor Company as well as offerings from Lotus, MG, and Caterham. When he is not writing about automobiles, Carl enjoys spending time with his family and friends in the Metro Detroit area, as well as spending time with his adorable pets.