Ford has released numerous versions of their incredibly popular Bronco, from the base model to the top end Raptor, but they are missing one key characteristic: Florida. The Blue Oval saw this enormous gap in the market and filled it with this, the Ford Bronco Everglades.
It’s got everything you need to get through the vast – and disgusting – Florida Everglades. The new model is available only in four-door form. The main change is it will have a factory snorkel (which you definitely need), a winch and just about everything else the existing Sasquatch package gets you.
That all-important snorkel will be positioned on the passenger-side A pillar. It’s a Ford in-house designed part that has a few different uses. It has two swappable plates at the top that can be revered to keep dust, snow and water out of the engine depending on what sort of terrain you’re dealing with.
Ford has also raised the vents on both axles, the transfer case and transmission to aid in the Everglades’ water fording abilities. Put all of that together, and you get 36.4 inches of water fording ability. That’s up just about three inches from the standard Bronco’s 33.5 inches.
The Everglades also gets a not-too-shabby power bump from the Bronco’s 2.3-liter EcoBoost four banger. It now makes 300 horsepower and 325 lb-ft of torque on premium fuel. The standard Bronco manages 275 horsepower. Power gets to the ground through a 10-speed automatic that goes to all four wheels. This Bronco also gets a 67.8:1 crawl ratio.
So, what about that winch? Well, the Everglades comes with a Zeon 10-S Warn winch that can pull up to 10,000 pounds with its 100-foot line. Not too shabby. This bad boy is mounted on a heavy-duty Ford Performance front bumper. Underneath the Everglades is a safari bar, rock rails and steel bash plates that are meant to keep the truck safe from whatever terrain it encounters. These items can also be found on the Bronco Black Diamond and Badlands.
Now to the real important stuff – what’s different about the Everglades on the outside. How will your buddies know you sprung for the higher model?
Ford has adorned the Everglades with a number of different ways to differentiate this model from a lower level Bronco. The Everglades gets a gray grille with a black-out “BRONCO” up front. It also gets squared-off fenders along with the Sasquatch Package’s 17-inch gray wheels on 35-inch mud tires, a colored hard top, and a roof rack with a crossbar.
The biggest change to the outside is probably a sticker that says “EVERGLADES” on it. From what I can tell it’s a pseudo-map of the Everglades. The sticker also has lines drawn on it to – I don’t know – show off to your boys how deep you can go.
Step inside the Everglades, and you’re greeted with marine-grade vinyl seats as well as a rubberized washout floor that will make it easier to get the Florida mud out of your car.
Now this all sounds great, doesn’t it? Well, folks, like everything else in this world, there is a catch. The Bronco Everglades is exclusively available to people who already hold a Bronco reservation. If you do happen to be one of those folks, Everglade orders open in March and it’ll start at $54,495. If you aren’t lucky enough to have a reservation in hand right now, just wait a few months. An Everglades will surely pop up on Bring A Trailer for $20,000 over sticker.