Little Ford Bronco Goes Wheeling in the Full-size World

This radio-controlled 1/10-scale 1979 Ford Bronco may look like a toy, but it doesn’t play around when it goes wheeling off-road.

Love of the Ford Bronco takes many forms. It had its devoted owners and fans when it was in production from the mid-1960s until the mid-1990s. Every year, many Bronco loyalists go wheeling in their rigs out in Moab. Custom 4X4 shops enjoy using Broncos as the platforms for their builds. Bronco love also comes in different sizes. As this YouTube video shows, even radio-controlled car enthusiasts have a great time taking it off-road.

The purple and black Bronco you see here belongs to YouTuber WhiskadoRC. It’s a 1/10-scale version of the 1979 Ford Bronco Ranger XLT made by a company called Traxxas. At first glance, it looks like a rugged machine. Up front, there’s a chromed push bar. The branded, white-lettered tires look totally appropriate on a vehicle meant to be taken far away from paved surfaces. Those flank a pair of rock sliders. Like many off-roaders, WhiskadoRC’s Bronco has a basket on the roof designed to be filled with vital equipment and supplies.

When we took a look at this effectively “driverless” Bronco’s specs, we learned even more about how hardcore it is. It has a ladder frame with 1.5-millimeter-thick steel rails. The front approach angle is a staggering 63.82 degrees; the departure angle is 43.22 degrees.

If you watch this tiny trail monster as it flexes and crawls its way through the wilderness of Somerset, England’s Cheddar Gorge, you can see its hardware in action. At certain points, the space between the wheel wells and the tires around the 1.9-inch wheels opens up and gives you glimpses of the Bronco’s aluminum oil-filled coilovers. If you’re wondering whether or not this little rock crawler has a differential, it does. Actually, it has two and they can both lock to give the Bronco better traction.

But that’s not the Bronco’s coolest feature. Look closely at the axles. Do you notice something a little unusual about them? That’s right: This Bronco has portal axles. Portal. Axles. Like the absolutely outrageous Mercedes-Benz G 63 AMG 6X6 from a few years ago.

We were already fans of the Bronco before we saw this awesome video, but this little beast just made us love it even more – and want to get an RC off-roader of our own.

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Derek Shiekhi

Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.

After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.

While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.

Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.

In addition to writing for a variety of Internet Brands sites, including JK Forum and Ford Truck Enthusiasts, Derek also contributes to other outlets. He started There Will Be Cars on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube to get even more automotive content out to fellow enthusiasts.

He can be reached at autoeditors@internetbrands.com.

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