A two-door V6 Ford Bronco will cost you Corvette money
The mythos of the Ford Bronco has always been a pony car for the trail: fun, powerful, stylish, and cheap. So you’d think a two-door, V6-powered configuration wouldn’t break the bank. But you’d be wrong. The cheapest V6, two-door Ford Bronco starts above $78,000. Meanwhile the 2025 Chevrolet Corvette starts at $68,300.
What’s the cheapest 2025 Ford Bronco?
Ford advertises its Bronco “Sport” starting at $29,995. For this price you get an AWD unibody with an I3 engine. If you’re thinking of the full-frame Bronco, you’ll pay at least $39,630. That’s for the two-door, I4-powered “Big Bend.”
The Ford Bronco is a bit confusing because it’s split into two very distinct vehicle families. The first, the Bronco Sport, is essentially a very strong Subaru Forester competitor. It’s a compact unibody crossover with good MPG and some off-road capability. It shares a chassis with the Ford Maverick. And it only comes as a four-door.
If you’re thinking of the Ford Bronco that’s more of a Jeep Wrangler competitor, you’re thinking of the “big” Bronco. That is a body-on-frame SUV built on the Ford Ranger chassis. The most “Wrangler” configuration–and the halo vehicle you see in Bronco ads–is a V6-powered, two-door (often pictured with its convertible top down).
A two-door, V6 Bronco can’t be that expensive, right? (I mean, the two-door configurations are cheaper, and the biggest motor isn’t even a V8). Think again.
How much is a two-door, V6 Bronco?
When Ford first resurrected the Bronco in 2021, it offered a ton of two-door V6 options, to compete with the Wrangler. Even in 2024, you could order six trims with two doors. But for 2025, that’s down to three trims. And the cheapest one available with a V6 is the special “Stroppe Edition” which will cost you $78,225 (with fees such as the destination charge).
Yup, Ford is charging more for the top engine in a short, light Bronco as Chevrolet is charging for its V8-powered halo car.
Whatever happened to the light, powerful, cheap Bronco? Well there may just not be any demand for it. The cheapest two-door Bronco is the “Big Bend” which has $39,630 MSRP. Yes, it only has a 2.3-liter turbocharged I4. But that engine makes 300 horsepower and 325 lb-ft of torque. The EcoBoost trounces the Wrangler’s base engine, a 285 horsepower V6. So why would Bronco buyers bother with a 330 horsepower V6. Especially when they’re going with the lighter two-door configuration?
