It must have really sucked for fans to wait through decades of OJ Simpson jokes for the Ford Bronco to return, only to suffer COVID-19 manufacturing delays before the trucks finally started shipping to customers last year. These pictures of two fresh Broncos meeting a fiery end in Greenfield, Illinois posted yesterday on a Bronco enthusiast form must really be testing their patience.
The two brand-new Ford Broncos were over-cooked in the hold of a comedically named “Reliable Carriers” closed vehicle trailer that caught fire. It’s unclear where the Broncos were headed, but they never made it.
The Broncos themselves were not suspected to be the cause of the fire, according to the source of the photos, Fedexman1978 on the Bronco6G.com forums. The user claimed it was likely the friction from a stuck brake or an unnoticed flat tire on the trailer that started the fire. The two Broncos were spotted being unloaded onto flatbeds after the fire was put out at a Greeneville truck stop. A crane was brought in to help hoist open the large trailer door for the operation.
Forum users have already identified many salvageable parts from both vehicles, including many highly desirable features of the “Sasquatch” trim package. A good thing about the somewhat less-popular carbonized grey Molded-In-Color (MIC) hardtop on both of these models is that they hide the smoke and fire damage wonderfully.
From the photos, it would seem the Rapid Red Bronco took the worst of it, completely losing its front grille to the heat — the horizontal daytime running lights now appear more like closed eyelids on a resting corpse.
Since I couldn’t help but appreciate the humor of “Reliable Carriers” having their name spread all over popular Ford forums for something rather unreliable happening, I reached out to the company about the incident. I was immediately contacted by a Ford spokesperson, via Reliable Carriers, who informed me Ford is aware of the incident and investigating.
Do you see any parts you’d like to salvage and de-char? I have to admit, every wheel and tire looks surprisingly fine for the conditions they went through. We probably should not trust any tire that’s been this thoroughly roasted, though, just to state the obvious.