Got a Cool Vehicle Idea? Here’s How Ford Is Turning Bold Ideas into Real Builds

Ford’s new Frostwarden winter rescue Bronco, complete with 42-inch tires and a 7.3-liter Megazilla 2.0 engine, is more than just an elaborate show vehicle. It represents how Ford is turning audacious ideas into exciting new products. 

You won’t be able to buy the new one-off SUV — recently revealed at the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) event in Las Vegas — but you will be able to buy the limited-edition 7.3-liter Megazilla 2.0 crate engine in it. It’s the most powerful crate engine ever from an automaker. The new engine and other performance parts on Frostwarden  offer a glimpse into how the Ford Customization team is thinking about profitable spin-offs of our products. 

Frostwarden is made up of a host of parts out of the Ford Racing Parts catalog, which includes turbochargers, superchargers, lift kits, and aftermarket wheels, enabling Ford Customization teams to let their imaginations run wild. 

What is Frostwarden?

The most noteworthy component from Ford Racing Parts is the SUV’s 1,200+ horsepower crate engine — a standalone engine sold separately from a finished vehicle — called Megazilla 2.0. 

“We knew it was going to be a big, bad engine... and we wanted to make sure it could be shown off in a build just as wicked,” said Ryan Long, Ford Racing Parts planning and strategy supervisor. “It’s a next-level engine for Ford Motor Company.”

These are some of the other things you should know about Frostwarden: 

• Megazilla 2.0 crate engine: 1,200+ horsepower, the most powerful crate engine ever from an automaker
• Other parts from Ford Racing Parts: Bilstein suspension, Weld wheels, Katzkin seats
• 42-inch tires
• Arctic-inspired winter rescue theme tied to Ford’s Answer the Call initiative  
• Assembled by a third-party company, Kincer Chassis, with Ford engineers developing the engine and suspension modifications 

From Idea to SEMA

The idea of a giant Bronco had been bouncing around Mike Goodwin’s mind for years. Goodwin, a planner and product manager for Ford Racing Parts, handles items related to engine upgrades such as superchargers and performance calibrations. When the need for a showcase vehicle to introduce the Megazilla 2.0 engine arose, Goodwin pitched his creation. The Frostwarden project commenced in February with a fitting code name: “Mega Bronco.” 

“This is really a labor of love,” he said. “It’s what I wake up in the morning thinking about. Sometimes, I’ll wake up in the middle of the night and I’ll have an idea, and I can’t go back to sleep. I have to get up and write it down or grab my phone and send myself an email to capture it.”

While Frostwarden was assembled by a Ford partner, company engineers developed the engine and adjusted the suspension to accommodate the oversized tires, among other things. About 15 members of Ford Racing Parts team were involved from planning to powertrain and design. 

Warming Up to a Winter Theme 

Ford Customization Lead Exterior Designer Ledd Lemmenes was one of the people who helped bring Frostwarden to life. Rather than a typical racing vehicle, his team decided on an Arctic-inspired winter recovery theme that ties in with Ford’s Answer the Call effort, which helps supply Ford Bronco SUVs to rescue organizations. 

“Everybody wants to do something really cool and they all kind of have their visions,” Lemmenes said. “So, you have to figure out a way to get a little bit of everybody into it. This thing is (Goodwin’s) baby and making something that honors that thing is cool.” 

From Show Car to Showroom

Frostwarden could be used to inform potential spin-off packages for Ford’s production lineup. The Ford Custom Garage team, another arm of Ford Customization, creates those packages, including other recent takes on production vehicles such as Bronco ORV, F-150 Custom Two-Tone and Bronco Desert Rising. 

Ryan Christiansen, strategy and execution manager at Ford Custom Garage, helps his small, but “very enthusiastic and dedicated crew” choose which projects to pursue and manages the team and its shared resources in bringing these ideas to reality. Ideas come from many sources — one recent idea came from a salesperson at a Ford dealership — including internal teams such as Marketing and Sales, as well as customers. But there are several factors that also determine whether those can reach production, including:

• customer appeal
• technical feasibility
• affordability
• whether the concept fills a niche that is not being satisfied by the standard production model

Once approved, it can take as little as 12 months for that idea to become reality. 

“You just know (a good idea) when you know,” he said. “It has a heart, it has a soul, and it has its own aura around it.” 

Do you have an idea for the Ford Customization team? Drop it here in the comments!