O.J. Simpson and Ford Broncos seem destined to be forever linked.
The U.S. Department of Transportation announced Wednesday it would investigate a Ford Motor Company recall of nearly 43,000 vehicles due to potentially faulty fuel injectors that could cause 2022-2023 Bronco Sports and 2022 Escapes to catch on fire.
The announcement coincided with the death of Simpson, who famously led Los Angeles police on a low-speed 1994 chase while riding in a white Bronco.
Ford discontinued its Bronco line in 1996 for business reasons, but planned to bring back the once-popular SUV on July 9, 2021.
However, thelaunch was delayed a few days after the automaker realized it would inadvertently be teaming up with Simpson once more.
“The previous targeted date of July 9 unintentionally coincided with O.J. Simpson’s birthday,” Ford said in a 2021 statement. “We wanted to be sensitive and respectful of this concern.”
Many Knicks fans remember the team’s nationally televised NBA matchup with the Houston Rockets being interrupted by footage of a Bronco surrounded by cops driving down a Los Angeles highway.
One of the men in that vehicle was Simpson, who knew he would be tried for the murder of his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ron Goldman. He eventually surrendered and was acquitted in a highly controversial trial lasting nearly a year.
Simpson, 76, succumbed to cancer Wednesday, according to his family.
There were no other suspects in his wife’s murder.
