The DR Will See You Now

FORD'S DESERT-CONQUERING BRONCO RACER IS NOW AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC. ALL YOU NEED IS $295,000 AND A KIDNEY BELT.

- James Lipman

A PAIR OF HANDS PLUG MY HELMET INTO A FILTERED air feed. Another clip the window net in place. In the seat next to me, Curt LeDuc, Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Famer, keys the intercom. "We're going to take it easy till the shock oil has warmed up." Oh, God. I peer past the reassuring lattice crash structure into the interminable lunar topography of the Southern California desert outside and ponder at which point my spinal fluid will be warmed up.

Starting at $295,000, the new ultra-hardcore Ford Bronco DR for Desert Racer is the Bronco lineup's ultimate off-road mission statement. The DR channels a decades-long legacy of desert racing that began with a stock first-gen Bronco's class win of the legendary 1967 Baja 1000, followed by an outright race win in 1969, further class wins in 1971 and '72, and 15 Baja 1000 Class 3 wins for 1978-95 models between 2002 and 2019.