Small changes add up to a massive cool factor with the retro-inspired 2023 Ford Bronco Heritage Edition models.
The newest Ford Broncos lean hard on the history of the Bronco name, with ’60s-inspired styling leading the charge. New Heritage Editions of the Bronco and Ford Bronco Sport turn up the retro volume even louder, with two-tone paint, chunky wheels, and fender script badging taken directly from 1966.
Big Bronco Looks Back
We’ll start with the big Bronco. Ford gives that one Oxford White paint on the modular hardtop roof to start. So you don’t miss the retro effect with the roof off, the Bronco gets a special new grille in the same white paint with Race Red FORD lettering instead of the usual big BRONCO letters. It’s more than just paint on the grille; the slat openings are new and look more like its ancestors.
The standard Heritage Edition gets 17-inch alloys. Painted white, they’re styled to look like old-school steelies. The bumper is new, too — it’s powder coated and winch-capable.
Built on the Big Bend trim, the Bronco Heritage Edition has plaid cloth seats, an Oxford White instrument panel, and exclusive floor mats front and rear.
Bronco’s 2.3L turbo-four with 300 horsepower and 325 pound-feet of torque is standard, but Ford will let you pick from the 10-speed automatic or seven-speed manual transmission.
Sasquatch Package Standard
Ford’s Sasquatch Package is included with the Heritage Edition. It brings Ford’s long-travel Bilstein dampers and taller ride height, plus 35-inch mud terrain tires sitting under those wider fender flares and Dana locking axles front and rear.
Bronco Heritage Limited Edition
Heritage Limited Edition gives buyers a retro Bronco upgrade. It’s based on Badlands and has the 330-horsepower 2.7L Ecoboost turbo V6. To make sure you can tell the two apart, Heritage Limited wears black painted wheels and has metal Bronco script fender badges as well as the stickers. Inside, the plaid seats have leather and vinyl trim.
Bronco Sport Isn’t Left Out
The smaller Bronco Sport gets to be part of the old-fashioned fun, too.
“These Heritage Editions are every bit as important to Sport as they are for the rest of the Bronco Brand and we think the iconic themes from the ’60s work perfectly on this vehicle,” said Bronco marketing boss Mark Grueber.
Bronco Sport models get an Oxford White roof like their big siblings, though this one doesn’t come off. A special white grille has the Race Red lettering, but on the Sport, it says BRONCO instead of Ford. White wheels and bodyside stripes complete the new touches outside.
Inside, Bronco Sport models will get plaid seats and a Navy Pier — Ford for dark blue — instrument panel, with white accents on the center dash storage bin and the HVAC vents. Ford says the blue cabin, with its microsuede center console and new MOLLE straps, is based on 1980s Bronco cloth seats. We’re pretty sure that means Bronco II, not the big horse.
Buyers can pick from two versions of the Bronco Sport, just like the big one. The Bronco Sport Heritage Edition is based on the Big Bend with 1.5L Ecoboost and 181 horsepower. It has that model’s higher ride height and terrain management system.
The Bronco Sport Heritage Limited Edition starts with a Badlands and its 250 horsepower 2.0L EcoBoost four. Setting it apart, the Heritage Limited Edition gets more aggressive all-terrain tires, leather-trimmed seats with white door inserts, and metal Bronco script on the fenders.
2023 Bronco Heritage Edition
Ford is offering the Heritage Edition across the Bronco lineup, including two- and four-door models and the Bronco Sport. The more powerful Heritage Limited Editions will be, well, limited. Ford is building 1,966 of each limited model.
A Bronco Sport Heritage Edition starts at $34,245 or $44,655 for a Heritage Limited Edition. For the big Bronco, the standard one starts from $44,305, and the Limited Edition is $66,895. All four will come with special retro-inspired main paint colors, and Ford will introduce a few more later in the year.