2025 Bronco Stroppe Edition Tested: A Modern Tribute To The Legendary Baja Broncos

These days, it’s rare to find a classic early Bronco that’s affordable. First-gen Broncos (1966-1977) used to be common on the trail back in the ‘80s, ‘90s and early 2000s. But prices have skyrocketed with plain old driver quality rigs going for $25,000 and many more trading hands for three times that. The rarest and most desirable of the breed are the ones built by legendary racer Bill Stroppe—the Baja Broncos.

Ford built around 400 Baja Broncos from 1971-1975, painted in flashy colors of Stroppe’s race trucks—red, white and blue. These machines offered a long list of standard upgrades like dual shocks, fender flare cut-outs, a roll bar, padded steering wheel and unique 15X8-inch wheels and 31(ish)-inch tires. However, the Baja options were way wilder and included Detroit lockers in each axle, high performance engine mods, harness-style seatbelts, pushbar, roll cage, lighting and more. It’s not uncommon for these to sell at over $150,000.  

Baja Broncos are super cool. So, when Ford decided to build a modern version, the Stroppe Edition, based on the sixth-generation Bronco—we got excited. The new one may not have all the unique equipment of the original, but it is still very desirable.

Every 2025 Stroppe Edition Bronco is a two-door model (as nature intended) and basically come one way—fully loaded. At $77,665, our test vehicle carried just one option: a hard top headliner for $135. How did the Stroppe do on our usual mix of street and trail driving? Let’s find out.

The Hardware

Underneath the special paint scheme (Code Orange, Oxford White and Atlas Blue), the Stroppe Edition Bronco is very much like the 2024 Wildtrak model. That trim level was discontinued for 2025, but the goodness remains in the Stroppe. The two-door Bronco rides on a 100.4-inch wheelbase. Out back, Ford uses a Dana Advantek 220 (8.66-inch) rear axle with 4.70:1 gears and an electronic locking diff. Up front, Ford uses the Advantek 210 (8.26-inch) differential with a double wishbone IFS. There’s an electronic locking diff here too with matching gears.

The Stroppe Edition Bronco comes standard with the Sasquatch package wearing 35-inch tall (315/70R17) Goodyear Territory RT tires. To make room, the Bronco has squared-off fender flares and Ford’s latest Hoss 3 suspension with Fox 2.5 internal bypass dampers. This combines to provide 11.8 inches of ground clearance. The Stroppe Edition also comes standard with the front swaybar disconnect system.

Under the hood is the standard 2.7-liter twin-turbo EcoBoost V6 with 330 hp at 5,250 rpm and 415 lb-ft of torque at 3,100 rpm hitched to a 10-speed automatic. Neither the four-cylinder turbo nor the 7-speed manual transmission are available on Stroppe models. The transfer case runs 3.06:1 gears and the 4WD rotary knob has an all-wheel drive setting, which is great for slick and snowy roads. The Stroppe’s crawl ratio of 67.8:1 is excellent for a stock 4WD, too. The Stroppe Edition Bronco comes with six drive modes (Normal, Eco, Slippery, Mud/Ruts, Rock Crawl and Baja) to pair the driving experience to the terrain.

On the Street

Climb inside and the Stroppe isn’t all that different than any other Bronco. Like the 1970s model it draws inspiration from, the 2025 model has a white dash face with orange trim. And all Stroppe Broncos have a cool “Bronco Stroppe Edition” heritage badge down by the shifter.

The Stroppe Bronco may have an eye-catching paint scheme on the outside but the drive experience on the road is far from radical. This is an easy vehicle to enjoy on the street. There’s a level of refinement and composure in a Bronco that’s ahead of its rivals. It’s not a massive difference but it’s enough to make the Bronco easier to love as a daily. Part of that comes from the Hoss 3 suspension.

Although the Fox dampers are designed for the dirt, they work well around town. We found the ride to be surprisingly smooth, especially when you hit a speed bump or pothole. After spending lots of time in a Hoss 2 Bilstein-equipped Bronco the differences are clear on bigger bumps—there’s more damping control. In other words, it’s a smoother ride when the road gets rough.

The torquey V6 gets the Bronco off the line with authority, however, we did notice that the V6 does run out of breath towards the top end of the rpm range. So, keeping your foot planted until the engine hits redline isn’t as rewarding as it is on some rigs. Still, the V6 has plenty of low-end grunt to move the Bronco swiftly. On the freeway, the 10-speed doesn’t hunt for gears and is happy at 75 mph. On the steep grade section we test on, it needed one downshift for a portion of the climb to maintain that speed.

In The Dirt

The Stroppe Bronco is immediately at home on the trail. A quick click of the orange drive mode rotary dial over to Baja mode puts the drivetrain in 4WD high range. It also pulls up tilt meters, steering wheel angle gauges as well as the camera system. But there is no change to the Fox shock damping.

Cruising along a dirt two-track, we spied a large hump and gave the throttle a generous poke. We lined up the Bronco with the large whoop and the rig’s nose popped into the air briefly and touched down with a cushioned and well-damped landing. It feels great taking on these big whoops and reminds us very much of the excellent suspension underneath the GMC Canyon AEV Edition.

Spin the dial again and we land on Rock Crawl mode. This mode automatically calls up Low Range, but of course you must shift to Neutral momentarily and back into drive. The system worked quickly without fault. The Strope has solid articulation for a stock vehicle.

The Stroppe Edition Bronco offered sufficient flex and made short work of the park’s tougher obstacles when both lockers were engaged and the swaybar is disconnected. However, there is a bit less confidence on uphill climbs compared to a similarly equipped Wrangler. On certain hill sections, the Bronco’s front suspension can get unloaded and fight for traction.

The Bronco’s clearance and capability encouraged us to explore a bit in areas we haven’t before. And on one narrow, twisty climb in low range with the swaybar disconnected, the nimble proportions of this rig really paid off. Even though we lifted a tire on numerous occasions (articulation does eventually run out), the ‘Bronc was able to crest the hill, turn around and head back down the way we came.

On our toughest test hill where we routinely evaluate new 4X4s, the Bronco was able to crest the hill with just the rear locker engaged and front swaybar disconnected. Although we did have to saw the steering wheel a bit at the most difficult rutted sections near the top to help the front tires bite. We tried the hill again with both lockers engaged, and the climb was so much more elegant with almost no tire slip.

In the sand, the Stroppe Edition Bronco is one of the most enjoyable stock rigs around. At first, we tried two-wheel drive with the traction control off, but the Bronco’s acceleration felt laggy each time the stability control would eventually kick in. Plus, it was too easy to spin the Bronco’s rear tires, losing momentum and speed. Sand mode proved to be the way to go. The Bronco shifts to 4WD High and thanks to the recalibrated traction and stability control—accelerates like a little beast. You can really fling this rig through the sandy “S”turns and the transmission programming holds onto the right gear for the speed. It’s a very well-sorted mode. We could imagine having quite a bit of fun on any sand dune.

On the fire road, the Stroppe Edition Bronco’s Hoss 3 Fox dampers worked well. The Bronco seemed happiest at around 30 mph. But the Bronco’s structure is quaky, and the bad vibes increase as speeds hit 40 mph. At those speeds, the shaking was a bit too much to press any harder. For comparison, the Ranger Raptor was a bit more composed (buy still had a bit of quake) at 40 mph. However, GMC Canyon AEV Edition was smooth riding at that same speed without the jiggles.

On the deep mogul section, we decided to see which trail tools were most beneficial for the big articulation climb. On the first run, we hit the deep gullies with just the Bronco’s traction control system. We made it halfway and then used the rear locker to make the rest of the way. That locker was an instant save. The next run, we used open diffs again but added the disconnected front swaybar when we ran out of traction control. The extra travel in the front alone wasn’t as miraculous as the locker in terms of adding traction. We still needed to saw the wheel to make it through. The next attempt was made with the swaybar disconnected the entire time. It was a struggle, but the Bronco did make the climb. On the final trip we finally added the rear locker from the beginning, making the climb easy.

The Bottom Line

The Stroppe Edition Bronco is an impressively capable vehicle that hits some cool nostalgia notes. It’s ready for tough trails in stock form. But here’s the thing, the Stroppe Bronco costs nearly $78,000.

Interestingly, for the 2026 model year, the Stroppe Edition Bronco is only available as a four-door model and at a lower base price of $69,999. So, if you like the Stroppe Edition and want to save a few bucks but also need more room, this sounds like a win. The downside? For 2026, no two-door Broncos can be optioned with the V6. So, in a way, the 2025 Stroppe Edition Bronco was the last of the breed.