The 2023 Ford Bronco Sport Heritage Limited was meant to look like an old-school SUV, but it’s all a facade.
The throwback trim wraps a very modern crossover SUV in retro styling cues inspired by the 1966 Bronco.
That includes a white grille with red lettering, white 17-inch aluminum wheels and a Robin’s Egg Blue paint similar to one of the first-year color offerings. A Yellowstone Metallic option references another historic hue.
The four-door’s roof doesn’t come off, but is painted white to add to the classic effect.
The Heritage Limited is based on the Bronco Sport’s Badlands trim, so it gets all of the off-road goodies that has to offer.
Those include 29-inch all-terrain tires, an updated suspension with off-road shocks and springs and, extra underbody protection, Mud/Ruts and Rock settings for its G.O.A.T. drive modes and a torque-vectoring rear differential.
Among the other functional features are a roof rack and a standard tow hitch. The Heritage Limited is rated to tow up to 2,200 pounds courtesy of its torquey 250 hp turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine and standard all-wheel-drive system.
The interior is updated with white door inserts to match the body accents and heated tan leather seats that are perforated with what looks like an old-fashioned plaid pattern. Snug rear seats are the trade-off for a very roomy cargo area.
Pricing starts at $46,250 or $46,895 if you lease, which puts it very much at the top of the Bronco Sport lineup, which starts at $30,810 for a Base model.
The Heritage Sport is far from base and comes fully loaded with everything from a power moonroof and excellent B&O audio system to Ford’s Co-Pilot 360 Assist++ electronic driver aid package with lane-centering adaptive cruise control.
The eight-inch touchscreen-controlled infotainment system feels dated and can be slow to respond, but Ford left plenty of knobs and buttons, so you don’t have to rely on it too much.
The screen comes in very handy on trails, however, as the Heritage Limited is equipped with a front-facing camera that can be used at low speeds off-road. And you should definitely try it out off road.
The Heritage Limited’s 8.8 inches of ground clearance is actually more than the original Bronco had, though closer to one of Subaru’s models than today extreme 4×4 trucks.
That’s plenty for rough roads and the Heritage Limited doesn’t mind going deep into the woods. It’s still more of a mall crawler than a rock crawler, but fine on dirt and gravel and sand.
The suspension also has hydraulic bump stops, so it can ride over whoops without bottoming-out harshly and the front-wheel-drive-based all-wheel-drive system can be locked into four-wheel drive for immediate traction on loose surfaces.
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The torque-vectoring differential helps it find purchase and will also send power to the outside wheel to let it rip some sweet slides and donuts when you floor the gas in a sharp turn on loose surfaces. No surprise as it is related to the one from the old Ford Focus RS, which had a drift mode.
Of course, Ford also offers a Heritage version of the Bronco truck that starts at just $49,750 with a seven-speed manual transmission that is both a more accurate tribute and more capable off-road.
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Bronco Sport Heritage Edition buyers can find solace with a smoother and quieter on-road ride and a 23 mpg combined fuel economy rating that beats the Bronco’s 17 mpg, plus the fact that Ford built only 1966 of their vehicles, so they may become collectibles on their own merits someday.
2023 Ford Bronco Sport Heritage Edition
Base price: $46,400
Type: 4-door, all-wheel-drive SUV
Engine: 2.0-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder
Power: 250 hp, 277 lb-ft
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
MPG (city/comb/hwy): 21/23/26