Bronco Sport Heritage rockin’ retro original model wannabe
JOHNSON VALLEY, Calif. — The Ford Bronco is awesome. It features retro-cool styling like a Mustang, useful two- and four-door variants, easyto-use rotary controls, and doors that come off for when the sun shines. If you have the urge to go deeper into nature, it sits on a tough ladder frame and 37-inch Sasquatch tire package. And for the really ambitious, there’s the 418-horsepower Raptor that will bounce around Silver Lake’s sand dunes like a golden retriever off the leash.
But the best thing about this bad boy may be its Mini Me.
Mini Me, aka Son of Bronco, aka Ford Bronco Sport. Bronco Sport is the love child of the Bronco and the Ford Escape. The Sport is built on the same bones as the Escape, but its spirit comes from Papa Bronco. The result is a handsome SUV starting at 30 grand that still has an instinct for off-roading.
And while Mini Me doesn’t have a Raptor variant (yet), it shares with the Bronco a new Heritage model for 2023 celebrating the iconic look of original 1960s Broncs.
Decked out in Oxford White steely wheels with Oxford White fascia and roof, the Heritage model looked like it had just stepped out of a 1966 Bronco catalog. Except
... with its digital screens, Apple Carplay and Android Auto app compatibility, four doors, leather seats and eager 250-horse turbo-4 engine, this car is light years beyond the OG in amenities and comfort.
True to the original, my Sport could fling some sand. The steelies were wrapped in all-terrain tires, and I charged up sandy hills, crawled over rocks.
Most impressive was the
Sport’s performance over the Mojave’s high dunes. Imitating Papa Bronco, I put Mini Me in SAND mode using the GOAT mode dial — a big, meaty Go-over-any-terrain dial in the center of the console that adjusts for a variety of surfaces.
SAND mode increased throttle response, loosened traction control and threw more power to the rear wheels, which is where my model’s secret sauce was kept. The Heritage Limited’s 2.0-liter turbo-4 gets a twin-clutch pack out back capable of slinging torque to either rear wheel depending which needs
it most. That is to say: real torque-vectoring.
I could not resist the urge to pose the fashionable Sport on top of dunes like a Star Wars movie shoot. Most Heritage model owners won’t have the chance to take their four-wheeler to the top of a dune, but its timeless design will turn heads anywhere.
Also head-turning is the Heritage Limited model’s price. It’s a stiff $46,895.
That’s the same price as the standard Bronco Heritage, which boasts a 300-horsepower 2.4-liter turbo-4 and meaty 37-inch Sasquatch all-terrain tire package. Oh. Mini Me at the same price as Bronco Sr.? For those who want something more affordable, Bronco Sport comes in a base 181-horse, 1.5-liter three-banger Heritage edition at a more appropriate Mini Me $35,485 sticker price.
Under its fashionable wardrobe, the Sport features practical SUV goodies like rear floodlights, rear carabiner hooks to anchor gear and a square cargo roof so that you can store two bicycles — upright!
Take a bow, Mini Me. Papa Bronco would be proud.