Here’s how the Bronco II failed, and how Ford could have prevented it

Get a 15% discount on your next car cover at carcover.com! Use this link to get your discount: https://www.carcover.com/?via=MyOldCar Go to https://www.squarespace.com/myoldcar to get a free trial and 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. In this episode I provide the history of the Ford Bronco II, a smaller SUV built on the platform of the Ford Ranger pickup. Ford rushed it to market in 1984 in response to GM's Chevy S-10 Blazer and GMC Jimmy SUV's, but the Bronco II had a fatal flaw in its design making it more prone to rollovers. Ford execs allegedly knew about the risk but would not pay the extra cost of redesign. By 1989, the rollovers had been in the press so much thanks to reveals in magazines such as Consumer Reports that Ford spent billions in lawsuits due to deaths and injuries caused by the rollovers. The Bronco II was replaced with the Explorer in 1991.

Added 4 May 2026