Turns Out the 2021 Ford Bronco Is Being Unveiled on O.J. Simpson's Birthday (Update: Not Anymore)
Ford called the decision "purely coincidental."
The 2021 Ford Bronco's full unveiling has been taking rain checks for months now, but finally, we know exactly when the revived off-roader will drop. July 9 is the date that the most diehard Bronco faithful have marked on their calendars. As it turns out, the all-new 4x4 is debuting on the birthday of perhaps the world's most notorious (former) Bronco owner: O.J. Simpson.
Update 6/19: Today Ford announced that, for reasons that should be obvious, the Bronco reveal has been moved to July 13.
Simpson is, infamously, a former NFL star running back who went on trial for the murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman in the mid-1990s. Every aspect of the case was nationally televised, step-by-step, for weeks.
One particularly notable moment came early on when Simpson fled police in a white Ford Bronco, weaving through Southern California freeway traffic as camera choppers flew overhead. A television crowd of nearly 100 million people tuned into the chase, which lives in infamy some 26 years later.
Simpson was acquitted at trial in 1995. He was later found liable for the pair's deaths in a civil lawsuit, and then served several years in prison following a robbery in Las Vegas.
Chatter on social media pointed out this strange occurrence, and it was first reported by the Detroit Free Press; a spokesman told the newspaper that it is "purely coincidental."
Since there are still three weeks until the 2021 Bronco's virtual unveiling, there's some time to speculate on how the truck might look. Or, more importantly, how it'll perform. We've already seen what we believe to be the real Bronco in previous leaks, and it sounds like it'll pack a 2.3-liter EcoBoost four-cylinder as standard. There's plenty for enthusiasts to get excited about, too, like a seven-speed manual transmission that features an ultra-low crawler gear. Oh, and don't forget about that removable top.
At any rate, expect more Bronco news on July 9. Maybe July 4 would've meant fewer headlines like this one?
Got a tip? Send us a note: tips@thedrive.com