The Bronco name is redolent of history and nostalgia, but when this iconic brand was rebooted for the 2021 model year—first as the Ford Escape-based Bronco Sport compact crossover, then later as proper 4x4 SUV foil for the Jeep Wrangler, with two or four removable doors and open-top options—the styling of both variants served up a modern interpretation of the OG Bronco design cues. Two model years in, the 2023 Ford Bronco and Bronco Sport lineups seek to strengthen their already overt visual ties to the first-gen Bronco with new retro Heritage edition packages.

To keep nostalgia affordable, Ford is offering both the Bronco Sport and the big Bronco (two- or four-door) as a mid-level-spec Bronco Heritage edition or a better-equipped Heritage Limited Edition. Each will feature a fun throwback pastel color palette, Oxford White accents, and vintage Bronco script badging, and all will be offered with few option packages to choose. And in paying homage to the original GOAT (Goes Over Any Terrain), every Heritage edition comes standard with the most aggressive rubber available on the base model.

That means 17-inch Continental All-Terrains on the 1.5-liter Bronco Sport Heritage, Falken Wildpeak A/Ts on 2.0-liter Bronco Sport Heritage Limited variants, and the Sasquatch package's 35-inch-diameter Goodyear Territory tires on all big Broncos. A full-size spare also comes standard.

Two- and four-door Bronco Heritage editions start from a Big Bend equipment basis available with a four- or six-cylinder engine and manual or automatic transmission. Heritage Limited models build from a Badlands basis, and hence are 2.7-liter V-6, 10-speed-automatic-only. Both are upgraded with the Sasquatch off-road package and use the more retrolicious square-top fenders introduced on the Everglades model. Each shares a new white grille based on the Black Diamond model's grille insert, featuring F-O-R-D lettering in red (all other Broncos, save the Raptor, spell out "Bronco" here).

Base 2023 Ford Bronco Heritage and Limited models get unique wheel treatments, with the base wheel painted white with a steely look, and the Heritage Limited wheel leaving only the outer rim white with a black center and a "dog dish" cap covering the lug nuts. Both designs feature a Bronco horse on the center cap. Each gets the Bronco script from the '60s along with a tape-stripe job, with the entry Heritage making do with a decal and the Limited getting a proper chrome badge. Exterior color options for the Bronco Heritage include Race Red (very close to the original Rangoon Red), black, Carbonized gray, Cactus gray, and Azure gray. You'll have to pop for the Heritage Limited to get the most fun colors: Robin's Egg blue (based on the 1966 color Arcadian Blue) will be available at launch, with Yellowstone (Ford Prairie Yellow) arriving later in 2023 and, and a more medium Peak Blue coming in 2034. All Heritage Broncos and Bronco Sports get an Oxford White roof, and standard assist steps.

Inside, all models get a white dashboard with red accents on the assist handles, vent aiming knobs, bungee straps on the map and seatback pockets, and steering wheel stitching. They also all get a modern riff on plaid seats, and the auxiliary switches are standard. For the base Heritage edition it's a gray denim-type cloth joined with light-blue stitching on the bolsters and vinyl inserts printed with sort of a digital plaid in shades of white, light blue, and grays. Heritage Limited models get brown leather accented by white and red stitching on the bolsters, and a plaid pattern of perforations in varying sizes.

Bronco Sports share a steel-wheel-look design (in white, with bronco center caps), but the two variants get unique white grilles. The base 1.5-liter Heritage edition shares the Big Bend grille design, but here it's flanked by the fancier (Outer Banks and up) headlamps with LED daytime running lights. The Limited runs the Badlands grille. Both are rendered in white with red BRONCO lettering. Here again the base model makes do with a Bronco script decal, only this time it's reversed out of the white bodyside stripe. Heritage Limited models get a chrome Bronco script, here augmented with a red box that includes the word "Sport" and a bucking bronco. Heritage Limited models are functionally equivalent to the Bronco Sport Badlands, and that model's underbody armor can be ordered as an option on base Bronco Sport Heritage editions. Bronco Sport Heritage models offer seven paint options including Robin's Egg Blue; Heritage Limited Editions can only be had in Robin's Egg Blue, Yellowstone Metallic and Peak Blue.

Interior color schemes echo those of the big Bronco, with worsted-look cloth and plaid-pattern vinyl on the base car, set against the Navy Pier (blue) cabin colorway, complete with red and light blue stitching on the bolsters. The Bronco Sport MOLLE strap storage system on the front-row seatbacks includes Navy Pier straps and Race Red zipper grips. Both variants get white accents on the dash and doors, but they're far less dramatic than the broad swathe of white on the bigger Bronco. All Heritage models also get an "Established 1966" plate like the ones all big Broncos get, only here the little Ford grille lettering is painted red.

The Bronco Sport Heritage edition will start at $35,840, with Limited models at $46,250—not bad, considering a Big Bend with the all-terrain tire upgrade currently goes for $32,425 and a Bronco Sport Badlands with leather and Falkens starts at $40,995. The Bronco Heritage two-door starts at $45,900 with the 2.3-liter seven-speed stick, up from $44,960 for a Big Bend with Sasquatch and the auxiliary switches package (add about $2,100 for the four-door). A two-door Heritage Limited will start at $68,490, up from $55,765 for a Badlands Sasquatch with leather and the 2.7L V-6/10-speed powertrain. Sales start this September, with an allotment of just 1,966 copies of the 2023 Ford Bronco Sport Heritage Limited Edition and the Ford Bronco Heritage Limited Edition to commemorate the year of the original truck's debut, with each run to be divided between the three colors and the Bronco's body styles. As with the Everglades and other models, ordering priority will be granted to current reservation holders who choose to change their order.