The Ford Bronco Desert Rising Looks Pretty (Awesome) in Pink

The limited-edition Bronco inspired by Utah’s wildest landscapes also costs a pretty penny.

Writer

Think a Bronco with magenta seats and graphics is an unnatural combination? You should know that the Ford Bronco Desert Rising is inspired by a wild yet totally natural phenomenon where portions of Utah’s Great Salt Lake turn from blue to fuchsia as pink-pigmented microorganisms flourish under the summer sun.

The new, limited-edition Bronco Desert Rising pays homage to the Beehive State and its brilliant rosy hues with a host of cosmetic changes inside and out. The bold side graphics are a nod to the shifting dunes in Utah’s Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park. Upfront, the modular grille from Ford’s accessories catalog is painted with two shades of pink while the seats have been re-covered in magenta Katzkin leather. Beefy all-terrain tires wrap around white 17-inch Method wheels with a squiggle of magenta on the center caps. The trail sights at the leading corners of the hood and the bucking Bronco badge on the tailgate are also color-coordinated with the package, and the center console features a serialized plaque.

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The Desert Rising model is built on the Outer Banks trim with the optional Sasquatch Package that includes 37-inch tires, a shorter final-drive ratio with locking front and rear axles, and a high-clearance suspension. It’s offered with either the 2.3-liter turbo inline-four or the 2.7-liter turbo V-6 and can be painted Oxford White, Shadow Black, Avalanche Gray, or Ruby Red.

Dealers are now taking orders for the limited run of 1,000 vehicles split between 2026 and 2027 model years. Ford is asking a pretty penny for the Desert Rising, which adds $13,695 on top of the $56,650 base price for a Bronco Outer Banks with the Sasquatch package. You can save $1,000 if you don’t want the body side graphics, but that kind of defeats the whole point, right?

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The Desert Rising Bronco is just one of several vehicles to come out of the recently launched Ford Custom Garage, which pulls from the Ford accessories and Ford Racing performance parts catalogs to create new packages that can be purchased from a dealer’s parts desk or as turnkey vehicles. The lineup ranges from the wild (such as the 800-hp Mustang FP800S and the 300-hp Maverick SV300T) to the mild (such as the Dark Trail package for the Ford F-150.)

These customized models aim to inject some life into Ford showrooms amidst a new product drought. The company has canceled plans for three EVs—a second-generation full-size truck, a three-row SUV, and a commercial van—that were originally intended to go on sale in or around 2026. The company’s next major new product, a $30,000 electric midsize pickup, is expected to debut in 2027 as a 2028 model. While developing a new model can take as long as four years, one Ford Custom Garage employee noted that the Bronco Desert Rising didn’t even exist as a sketch a year ago.

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That speed will allow designers to crank out more special editions similar to the Desert Rising in the years to come. We’re told this is the first Bronco in a new Horizon Series, which will produce a limited-edition Bronco roughly annually, each with a unique color palette inspired by a particular location. If pink’s not your color, check back next year.

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