The Ford Bronco has had its time in the spotlight. A white Bronco was famously chased through Los Angeles in 1994, but the nameplate's story stretches back much further than that. Ford even gave Australia a taste of the Bronco in the 1980s, though it never achieved the cult status it enjoys in the United States. It's a 4X4 that's about as American as McDonald's or grilling a steak in a parking lot before kick-off. Why they do that, we'll never know.
What it hasn't been is a fixture of the Australian landscape. Here, the Blue Oval is synonymous with the Ranger and Everest, and they've more than proven themselves. From the Simpson Desert to Victoria's High Country, they've shown they have the minerals.
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There is something enticing about a Bronco, though. Maybe it's the boxy shape that Australians have become infatuated with, much like Toyota's 70 Series. Maybe it's the name itself. Bronco. It sounds like something that should be kicking up dust on a remote track, not sitting outside a suburban shopping centre.
Whatever the reason, the Bronco has always felt bigger than its limited Australian history. The irony? Now that it's returning to local showrooms, it's not the Bronco anyone expected.
In fact, it's a completely different proposition.
2027 Ford Bronco Basecamp driving on a dirt road
Photo: Ford Australia
Ford Australia's showroom line-up will welcome the Bronco in the second half of 2027, but it's not coming from the US. We'll be getting the Bronco Basecamp, a Chinese-made large SUV built with joint-venture partner Jiangling Motors Corporation (JMC).
The ladder-frame Bronco Americans know, which shares its underpinnings with the Ranger and Everest, will remain off limits to local buyers. Instead, the Basecamp rides on a car-derived monocoque platform and tips the scales at more than 2500kg, making it heavier than a seven-seat diesel Everest.
2027 Ford Bronco Basecamp at a campsite
Photo: Ford Australia
Ford claims it's built for surfers, foragers, trail runners, fly fishers, wild swimmers, plein air painters and stargazers. Looking at the specs, it's hard to argue with that. The Bronco Basecamp should have no trouble getting you to a remote river, mountain trail or secluded campsite.
Under the skin is a dual-motor electric drivetrain paired with a 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol range extender. Based on the Chinese-market model, the system produces a combined 310kW from a 130kW front motor and a 190kW rear motor.
The Ford Bronco is returning to Australia in 2027, but it won't be the US-built off-roader many enthusiasts expected. Instead, Australia will receive the Bronco Basecamp, a Chinese-built range-extender SUV designed for camping, touring and outdoor recreation, with a claimed driving range of up to 900km.
Ford claims a driving range of up to 900km. Whether you'd want to push it quite that far is another question, but it's more than enough to find a worthy fishing spot, painting vista or swimming hole. In a country as vast as Australia, range was never something this Bronco could afford to get wrong.
Once you get to the campsite, the Bronco actually includes some great features. Depending on the variant, you can get a pop-up roof for sleeping under the stars, a cabin that folds flat into a bed, a built-in tailgate table for meal prep (and pretending you're in an American Football stadium's parking lot) and a heated and cooled centre console for keeping drinks at the right temperature.
The interior of a 2027 Ford Bronco Basecamp with the seats folded down and a Bronco air mattress installed
Photo: Ford Australia
The centre console of a 2027 Ford Bronco Basecamp with drinks in the cooler
Photo: Ford Australia
There's also 6.6kW of onboard power available, which means you can run everything from a kettle to a camp stove without dragging a generator out bush. For a vehicle aimed at surfers, painters and fly fishers rather than hardcore four-wheel drivers, the feature list makes sense.
2027 Ford Bronco Basecamp on the beach by a rack of surfboards
Photo: Ford Australia
The Bronco badge might suggest rugged trails and rock crawling, but Ford seem more interested in selling a mobile campsite.
So while we may not be getting the iconic, trailblazing Bronco of the '60s or even a modern take on the full-size model that briefly made its way to Australia in the '80s, we are getting something new. The Bronco Basecamp isn't just an Everest with sharper edges and a Bronco badge slapped on the grille.
Whether that's enough to win over Australian 4WD enthusiasts is another question. We'll find out when it arrives in showrooms in the second half of 2027.
From the Simpson to the High Country
We cover anywhere you can legally go in Australia
