Even before the world officially laid eyes on the new Ford Bronco, rumors swirled about the possibility of Ford producing a high-performance Raptor model as a more powerful, extra-rugged member of the Bronco family. This extreme off-road variant still has yet to be confirmed in any official capacity but, good news, a recently spotted tidbit in one Ford engineer’s LinkedIn profile may have just let the cat out of the bag. However, it doesn’t look like the Bronco Raptor will arrive for another couple of years.
Brought to us by the folks at Bronco6G, mention of the Bronco Raptor can be found within the LinkedIn details of one Bruce A. Richter, an EDS engineer at the Ford Motor Company. “Currently designing EDS (electrical distribution system)—schematics for 2021 Bronco / 2023 Bronco Raptor,” reads Richter’s online CV.
Unless Ford is in the habit of hiring people who fib on their resumes, it definitely looks like the company is in the process of developing a Bronco Raptor for the 2023 model year.
Just like Ford’s F-150 Raptor, expect the Bronco Raptor to feature bigger power, bigger tires, more ground clearance, more aggressive bodywork and, naturally, a bigger price than its relatively pedestrian $30,000 sibling. As it stands, the regular Bronco can already be optioned with a 2.7-liter EcoBoost V6 making a healthy 310 horsepower and 400 pound-feet of torque so we wouldn’t be surprised if the Raptor comes along bringing close to 400 ponies—it’ll need it if it hopes to compete with Jeep’s V8-powered Wrangler Rubicon 392. Do not, however, expect it to come with the seven-speed manual seeing as how the stick shift isn’t even available with the existing 2.7, although we’ll happily challenge Ford to surprise us.
We’ve reached out to Ford for comment and will update this story when we hear back.
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