The Ford Bronco is all about history, even when it is new. The recently rebooted SUV’s styling is inspired by the Broncos of old and Ford loves to lean into that past as often as possible.

It has been offering it in a very descriptively named Heritage Edition model for several years with white wheels, throwback colors and retro typeface logos, but it now has one that pays homage to something more specific.

The 2025 Bronco Stroppe Edition is a tribute to the desert racing trucks built by American off-road racing legend Bill Stroppe in the 1960s and 1970s. Jim Hall and Larry Minor drove one to victory in the Baja 1000 in 1969 — when it was still called the NORRA Mexican 1000 — but Stroppe won the race himself with Indy 500 winner Parnelli Jones in 1971 and 1972.

Stroppe would go on to partner with Ford to build a line of custom street trucks painted in his team’s iconic orange, white and blue livery and the survivors are now sought-after collector items that often sell for more than $100,000.

The new Bronco Stroppe Edition is a bit less than that at a starting price of $77,630, but that gets you a far more modern truck to go with the nostalgia.

It comes with the orange, white and blue color scheme, which is rendered in real paint instead of a vinyl wrap, and includes a matte black-painted hood to cut down on sun glare. In keeping with the original, it is only offered as a two-door and has a standard removable hardtop.

All of the other two-door Broncos use a 300 hp turbocharged four-cylinder, but the Bronco Stroppe Edition has a higher-performance 330 hp turbocharged V6 paired with a 10-speed automatic transmission.

It is also equipped with every off-road upgrade from the Bronco’s options list, including one called the Sasquatch package that adds comically large 35-inch “rugged terrain” tires, heavy-duty drivetrain components and shock absorbers designed to handle the sort of high-speed driving you might try on the Baja California peninsula.

The result is an SUV that may be short in length, but stands tall with nearly a foot of ground clearance underneath it. A sturdy steel front bumper and more underbody plates than a tank are included in case you still manage to scrape it on a rock.

I risked doing that and scratching the fancy paint on a hill strewn with boulders that I’ve been to with many off-road trucks over the years, and it handled it better than any of them. The 4×4 system is the best one you can get in a Bronco and includes the ability to lock the rear and front axles for maximum traction, which was put to the test and passed with flying colors. The stabilizer bar that keeps the ride tidy on the road can also be disconnected with the push of a button to make the front independent suspension more limber as it crawls over obstacles.

The Bronco Stroppe Edition is also loaded with electronic features that help when you are doing that, including a 360-degree camera system with a nose camera that is projected onto the central display to show you what is on the other side of that high, flat hood. The emergency braking system and radar adaptive cruise control are geared more toward the street, but the 12-speaker B&O audio system and marine grade vinyl seats are great anywhere.

However, the Bronco Stroppe Edition is happiest in its natural environment blasting across the sand. There aren’t any deserts in the New York metropolitan area, but the sandy trails of New Jersey’s Pine Barrens are a pretty close substitute. Those giant tires and trick shock absorbers make it feel as smooth as powder skiing out there.

But the Bronco Stroppe Edition’s best feature may be that paint job. Most people don’t have a clue what it is really about, but everyone seems to love the look in a Tonka toy kind of way. In a time where many trucks suffer side-eyes or much worse, it could protect you from the slings and arrows of criticism along with the rocks.