Test-Driving Gateway Bronco’s Officially Licensed Shelby Sport SUV

At Barret-Jackson's 2019 Scottsdale auction, Gateway Bronco catapulted to the forefront of the 4x4 restomod industry when one of the company's immaculate builds hammered for an astounding $650,000. Proceeds from the auction went to charity, which explains some of the exuberant bidding, but Gateway founder Seth Burgett's obsessive attention to detail while restoring and modifying classic cars accounts for plenty of the Bronco's value, too.

Burgett jumped into the restomod game after a career developing healthcare tech, and now loves racing his vintage Shelby GT350. He even owns the very first Bronco ever built, a truck also formerly owned by none other than Carroll Shelby. That throughline helps to put Gateway's latest build into context, the radical Shelby Sport SUV build in partnership with Shelby American .

Taking the 4x4 Restomod to a New Level

The Shelby Sport SUV ups the ante from Gateway's Luxe-GT, which I drove last year at Monterey Car Week. At the time, the Luxe-GT's exclusively developed chassis complete with independent front suspension (IFS), a la the modern Bronco available from the Ford factory, blew my mind. Throw in a carbon-fiber body, a roaring V8 engine plus the fun of open-top motoring with a quintessential ombre beach aesthetic, and Gateway seemed to hit the restomod nail on the head.

But in classic restomod style, the further Burgett and Gateway push the envelope, the more customers flock to bigger and badder builds—in the best way. The Shelby project took a whopping eight years to finally reach fruition, requiring countless meetings, phone calls and proposals to finally create a vintage-style 4x4 that lives up to the legendary name of that chicken farmer from Texas.

The Luxe-GT's IFS chassis only served as a platform, this time around, for Gateway to drop in a bonkers supercharged "Predator" V8 borrowed from the modern Shelby GT500 and F-150 Raptor R , here pumping out 760 horsepower. That grunt routes through a good-old-fashioned stick shift on the way to all four wheels, which sounded about right to me as I hopped behind the wheel.

The decision to employ full-time four-wheel-drive, rather than offering a transfer case with two-wheel drive, helps explain Burgett's vision for the Shelby Sport SUV. He needed maximum power and performance, of course, but also the kind of predictable and confidence-inspiring driving dynamics that make pulling the truck out of the garage for everyday life more appealing. Somewhat stiff suspension to prevent too much squat and body roll contributes to that confidence, as does the inclusion of modern anti-lock brakes and traction control.

The 911 GT3 of SUVs

But the first thing I noticed after adjusting to the Predator engine's prodigious power and the perfectly weighted clutch pedal, was actually the low center of gravity made possible by the exposed carbon-fiber body. Snugged into a set of matching carbon Recaro buckets—another new partnership—I felt the weight of the powertrain serving as the polar momentum of inertia, rather than a top-heavy vintage SUV's steel body panels and roof.

Burgett and I laughed as we ripped around, me heel-toeing on downshifts and even nailing a few while we enjoyed the deep grumble of the bimodal exhaust. I wanted to demonstrate some mechanical sympathy for something as new as this first prototype, but he urged me to take a few harder pulls, too. We discussed our shared Porsche obsessions, and Burgett explained that this Bronco aims to authoritatively establish a new standard for 4x4s both old and new, sort of akin to the eternal performance dependability of the 911 GT3 .

Hence the Recaro buckets, though I felt a bit hunched down to keep the windshield surround from interrupting my view of the road. Surely Burgett can install the seats slightly lower to help taller drivers, or skip the touchscreen in the center console that clashes with the vintage vibe and the spectacular tactility of each and every piece of switchgear—Gateway will essentially work with buyers to almost infinitely customize the 10 Shelby Sport SUV builds planned per year.

Pricing starts at $315,000 but escalates quickly to around $800,000 for the full-carbon, supercharged, manual package. The Shelby Sport SUV seems poised to prove once again that the more imagination Gateway and other restomodders can instill into wild creations, the more customers will want to get in on the fun. For now, this truck clearly takes the cake as the wildest 4x4 restomod on the planet. With peak Bronco established, I wondered aloud to Burgett, what comes next. He chuckled and teased a few releases planned for next year, but resoundingly rejected the prospect of any sort of EV project in the meantime.