AUSTIN, Texas — The inspiration for a novel feature on the 2021 Ford Bronco — and key differentiator from archrival Jeep — came from an unlikely source.
For Ford designers, the proverbial lightbulb came on after talking with a 21-year-old nanny from Los Angeles named Bianca. (Ford didn’t disclose her last name.)
She owned a Wrangler and liked to take advantage of the West Coast’s warm climate when she got off work but spent virtually all day at someone else’s house and had nowhere to store the vehicle’s removable doors.
“For her, the difficulty of taking the doors off a regular truck and lack of anywhere to put them seemed like an inhibiting factor,” said Paul Wraith, the Bronco’s chief designer and 2020 Automotive News All-Star. “It led to a good idea.”
Specifically, that idea was a set of frameless, mirrorless doors that could be easily taken off and stored inside the vehicle (at least on the four-door model).
It was easier said than done.
They had to design a trunk wide and long enough to carry the doors without compromising the off-roader’s all-important departure angle; the doors had to be light enough to carry without being too thin to withstand standard wear and tear; and they had to be easy enough to take off while retaining a decent ergonomic shape and features such as armrests.
The toughest challenge, however, was figuring out how to design the side mirrors.
If they couldn’t be on the doors, the next logical solution was to put them on the A-pillars. But that meant worrying about whether the interior grab handles would block the driver’s view or if the A-pillar would affect the driver’s sightlines.
“Mirrors are among the hardest part to design on any vehicle,” Wraith said. “Challenging ourselves to do what we did…we had to keep the door [design process] open for a little bit longer before we nailed it.”
There were a number of changes to the design before they got it right, Wraith said, although the team was helped by using full-size foam and cardboard models that could be easily altered.
“Doing stuff that’s new is scary because you have nothing to copy,” Wraith said. “We all had to take a big brave pill, feel very confident we’ve made the right decision and then use all our talent and energy and passion to deliver it.”
After the design was finalized, the company realized it needed a way to simply explain the door removal and storage process so even off-road novices would feel comfortable doing it.
That’s why every Bronco comes with door covers that can slip on easily and be carried around with a handle. Owners also get a small toolkit, stamped with the Bronco logo, to help remove the doors, which are held on with two screws and a bolt. The toolkit also includes simple rubber covers to place on the edges of the door so you don’t scratch them against the edge of the vehicle when you’re putting them back on.
Ford added an image on each door cover to show which one corresponds to which door and in what order they should be stored in the back. There’s even a QR code that customers can scan to be directed to a tutorial video in case they have trouble.
Wraith said it’s all part of the team’s human-centered design approach, a philosophy espoused by former CEO Jim Hackett.
“This idea of really analyzing what’s going on and seeing where things could be better is a learned skill,” he said. “We’re working at it all the time.”