Ford’s Fancy New Bronco Is Here To Battle The Land Rover Defender

If you’ve looked at the Ford Bronco lineup recently, you may have noticed that it’s available in a bunch of variations. Ford sells seven different trims of the 2026 model. Most of them are the basic Wrangler fighter with different levels of equipment, and a few are quite serious performance vehicles, particularly the hulking Raptor. None of them are particularly focused on offering a truly luxurious off-road experience, though. Land Rover and Mercedes-Benz have shown that there’s certainly a market for luxury off-roaders, and clearly Ford wants a piece of that. So for 2027, it’s launching the classy and capable Bronco Filson.

Ford’s Partnering With An Apparel Brand Once Again

Ford has a long history of teaming up with fashion and apparel brands. For decades, it offered high-end versions of its SUVs with an Eddie Bauer-themed trim level. Eddie Bauer was a premium outdoor gear brand, one that originated in the Seattle area. This time, however, Ford decided to go with a different Seattle-area outdoor brand with an excellent reputation. Enter Filson, a company with an even longer history (back to 1897) and a connection to the U.S. Forest Service, which has lent its branding and design to Ford for this special Bronco.

Credit: Ford

The Ford Bronco Filson’s exterior doesn’t make the connection to the apparel brand obvious, but it’s clear something’s different about this Bronco. It has a unique egg crate grille insert not shared with any other Bronco model. That grille has a bronze painted finished, too. The rest of the SUV is mostly standard Bronco, but it features a top and fender flares that have been painted to match the body. The wheel arches are the larger version from the Sasquatch, as the Filson features 35-inch tires wrapped around unique, chunky-looking wheels.

Credit: Ford

At the back, the spare tire has a hard panel also painted to match the body and bearing a large Filson brand below the Bronco logo. Two exclusive colors have been added to the Filson including Field Green Metallic and and Iron Sands Copper Metallic, the latter of which is only available on the First Edition, which gets additional fender badges, a center console badge, and included Filson storage bags.

Credit: Ford

The interior is much more obviously Filson-related, particularly with the upholstery. The seats are upholstered in perforated and quilted leather, and the edges are finished in a fabric meant to simulate Filson’s twil fabrics in its clothing. Leather in a similar color to that fabric is wrapped around the grab handles and dash top, as well the tops of the door panels.

Credit: Ford

Filson storage pouches also appear in the lower doors. Optional bags that the First Edition gets can be attached to the roll bar in the rear. Ford further finished the main dash panels, steering wheel trim, and drive mode selector in what it calls a brass finish, though we find it to look a bit more bronze. Either way, it fits the earthy interior nicely.

Read the full article on CarBuzz

This article originally appeared on CarBuzz and is republished here with permission.