In the 1990s, the Ford Rough Riders were still in competition.
The trademark applications for Ford Rough Riders and Bronco Rough Riders were filed on September 29. They indicate that the automaker wants to revive the name of its offroad racing team, which was founded in the 1990s. These filings specifically address “entertainment services of the nature of automobile race; entertainment services namely entertainment of others through participation in automobile racing events.” The Bronco6G forum was the first to notice the requests.
Only October 2 was the date that applications were accepted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The process of becoming a trademark granted takes several months. Don’t expect to see a Rough Riders racing team returning until 2021.
From 1991 to 1995, the Ford Rough Riders were involved in off-road racing. The group consisted of multiple teams that competed in different classes and received engineering and logistic support from Ford Truck Operations as well as BF Goodrich. Over the course of this period, the united front of competition won more than 20 manufacturer and driver championships. According to the history of the Rough Riders, Offroad Xtreme, the automaker used this effort as a development platform for chassis, suspension and drivetrain components.
Ford has already hinted at its intent to compete in off-road motorsport by displaying the Bronco R. The vehicle even participated in the 2019 Baja 1000 as an exhibit.
Although the Bronco R looked similar to the production SUV, it had larger fenders and no windows. Fox components were used to overhaul the suspension, which provided 14 inches of travel frontally and 18 inches back. It was equipped with 17-inch wheels, and 37-inch tires.
Fitting with the win-on-Sunday-sell-on-Monday concept, Ford is already teasing a meaner, road-legal Bronco. It is rumored to be called Warthog . It rides on 37-inch tires, and packs the 400-horsepower (398-kilowatts) twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter V6 of the Explorer ST.