Photo: Gustavo Roa
It doesn't take much looking to know something is very weird about this image. Actually, it's so much something you know as something you feel. It's the proportions: they're nothing like any other vehicle you can pick up from a dealership right now.
Some people might regret the departure of the coupe utility vehicle body style, but there's probably a reason why you don't find vehicles like these anymore. Usually, that reason is a lack of demand, so even though the very few potential buyers might be pretty vocal about it, they're actually just a small minority.
And if you were to convince more people to buy one, you wouldn't do it with a vehicle like the one in this rendering by Gustavo Roa. It's called the Ford Pampa, and that's because it's meant to be a revival of the old model with the same name that sold in Brazil.
We say "old", but the last time a brand-new Pampa rolled off the production line was only 23 years ago. The world had seen similar cars way before that, with the most famous example being the Chevrolet El Camino. However, an equally good example could come from Ford's own history in the North American market, and that would be the Ranchero.
The launch of the new Bronco does not link up with the release of a new Ranchero in any way. The pickup would have to use a car platform to be worthy of this name, leaving the Bronco to only lend some of its styling cues, at best. And if this rendering is anything to go by, they wouldn't really fit that well. The revived SUV looks great but paste its grille and headlights on a different body, and it all just looks very dated and completely inappropriate.
Right now, Ford's pool of available car models in the U.S. is pretty limited. You basically need to choose between the Fusion sedan and the Mustang coupe. And that's it. Other than that, it's all trucks, SUVs, and crossovers.
The thought of a Pampa/Ranchero-like model seems cool, but only because it would be something new in today's landscape. However, these vehicles have lost their meaning in today's market. They made sense back when the trucks were rudimentary beasts, so people who wanted a utility vehicle with some comfort welcomed something like the Ranchero or El Camino.
These days, people drive trucks for fun. They can make excellent daily drivers. They offer the best of both worlds, so why settle for less practicality? Almost nobody would. Yet there's something about this rendering that caught our attention, even if we can't figure out what it is - it's surely not the quality of execution.
It's probably just nostalgia.
And if you were to convince more people to buy one, you wouldn't do it with a vehicle like the one in this rendering by Gustavo Roa. It's called the Ford Pampa, and that's because it's meant to be a revival of the old model with the same name that sold in Brazil.
We say "old", but the last time a brand-new Pampa rolled off the production line was only 23 years ago. The world had seen similar cars way before that, with the most famous example being the Chevrolet El Camino. However, an equally good example could come from Ford's own history in the North American market, and that would be the Ranchero.
The launch of the new Bronco does not link up with the release of a new Ranchero in any way. The pickup would have to use a car platform to be worthy of this name, leaving the Bronco to only lend some of its styling cues, at best. And if this rendering is anything to go by, they wouldn't really fit that well. The revived SUV looks great but paste its grille and headlights on a different body, and it all just looks very dated and completely inappropriate.
Right now, Ford's pool of available car models in the U.S. is pretty limited. You basically need to choose between the Fusion sedan and the Mustang coupe. And that's it. Other than that, it's all trucks, SUVs, and crossovers.
The thought of a Pampa/Ranchero-like model seems cool, but only because it would be something new in today's landscape. However, these vehicles have lost their meaning in today's market. They made sense back when the trucks were rudimentary beasts, so people who wanted a utility vehicle with some comfort welcomed something like the Ranchero or El Camino.
These days, people drive trucks for fun. They can make excellent daily drivers. They offer the best of both worlds, so why settle for less practicality? Almost nobody would. Yet there's something about this rendering that caught our attention, even if we can't figure out what it is - it's surely not the quality of execution.
It's probably just nostalgia.
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