Manufacturing cars is hard. It’s so damn hard, they’re all made with so very many parts, some of which are just so damn tiny, and they all have to fit together just the right way — it’s amazing we’re able to pull it off as well as we do, by the millions, day after day. Of course, mistakes happen, and sometimes those mistakes make it out of the factory, and then we get to see them and enjoy a sedate if slightly cruel chuckle. This Bronco provides us with just that.
Really, this isn’t a horrible screw-up, and it’s easily fixed, but it’s just so damn obvious:
Mismatched taillights! That’s not so bad. It has the same sort of cavalier abandon as wearing mismatched socks, or something.
I reached out to Ford, which is where I encountered the somewhat euphemistic term “misbuild” for “fuckup” and that’s also where I was assured that this issue was “easily fixed” by the dealer.
I asked to see if there are production efficiency advantages to just putting on whatever taillight is available instead of holding production up to find the matching one, but I have yet to receive a response. I suspect this may be the case, though.
If there’s a system in place to check and correct these sorts of minor, easy-to-correct issues — which there is, and that’s basically what we’re seeing in this video — then I can see how just keeping things going on the factory side and fixing the stragglers at the dealer makes sense.
What would really be bold, though, would be for Ford to experiment with packages that are kind of like Volkswagen’s old Harlequin cars that used different-color, mismatched body panels, only they would mix-and-match bolt-on parts like taillights and mirrors and fender flares and so on.
Think about it, Ford! This could save a lot of hassle! You could add a few of these Randomly Accessorized Broncos to the line any time production supplies of lights or mirrors or door handles or whatever gets low! It’d be fun!