What the Heck Is This Funky Ford F-150 Raptor Test Mule?
From Car and Driver
- Our spies have spotted a short-bed, regular-cab version of the Ford F-150 Raptor testing; a configuration that currently doesn’t exist.
- Riding on a full-size F-150 chassis rather than that of the next-gen, mid-size Ford Ranger on which the Bronco is based, this could be an unannounced, full-size “Daddy Bronco.”
While we and the entire truck-loving world wait with bated breath for a glimpse of the next-generation Ford Bronco, it only takes a camouflaged prototype or this unfamiliar-looking Ford F-150 Raptor test mule to stir up a speculation frenzy.
We know that the upcoming Bronco will share a platform with the next-generation Ford Ranger, which will ride on a smaller chassis than the full-size frame that underpins this test mule. And we know that the upcoming “Baby Bronco” shares a platform with the Escape. But until this spy shot, there hasn’t been a peep about a big Bronco.
While this isn’t out of the question — in fact it’s a theory our sister publication Road & Track subscribes to– we, sadly, believe this undisguised Frankenstein Ford is more than likely just a test bed for future company components or a push-truck for the proving grounds cobbled together by engineers over time. Not only is this shockingly un-disguised, but if you look close, it also lacks a roll bar/connecting element between the cab and the bed to simulate structural pathways through a not-two-door-pickup-cab-body that SUV mules usually sport. Sad trombone.
Even if this isn’t the big-bad Bronco we’re all excited about (prove us wrong, Ford) at the very least, these images provide Raptor fans with an un-Photoshopped look at what a regular-cab version could be. Or maybe there’s more to this cobbled-together pickup truck than meets the eye. Fascinatingly, this mule creates more questions than answers.
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