Ford Ranger: Tale Of An American Legend
The legendry pick up truck from Ford was introduced in 1983 and remained a worthy contender for Best Pickup Truck title for most of its lifespan. Despite competing with automakers that were and still are known for their immaculate reliability and economical maintenance, Toyota and Nissan (then Datsun), Ranger outsold its competitor’s pickups from 1987 to 2004, consecutively in USA market.
Ford launched Ranger with aim of providing an economical and compact truck compared to its own F Series. Ranger had a shorter wheelbase than F Series but still it could easily fulfill standard pickup truck requirements, like moving a usual length (4 feet) plywood pane, however it needed 4×4 capability to achieve this feat. Still it was a great option for people looking to buy a smaller, more fuel efficient yet equally powerful pickup truck in America. Considering the imminent appeal and acceptance of Ranger, Mazda joined hands with Ford and launched Mazda B Series in America, which was produced in Ford’s production plants in USA; B Series in rest of the world was manufactured by Mazda itself.
As of 2011, Ranger can be classified into two generations; first one elapsed through 1982 to 1998 and second one was produced from 1993 to 2011. Ford was intent to make Ranger a strong player in compact pickup truck category so it introduced 8 varying engine capacities in Ranger’s first generation. Brief detail of first generation Ford Ranger engines is as follows:
From 1983 to 1992: The most basic models had a straight-4, 2.0 and 2.3 litre petrol engines. Ford launched 2.8, 2.9, 3.0 and 4.0 litre V6s as well during this time frame along with 2.2 and 2.3 (turbo) litre diesel engines, to compete with full size pickup trucks. Ford Ranger transmission was mainly produced by Mitsubishi, Mazda, Toyo Kogyo and Ford itself. Options for choosing either4 or 5 speed manual transmission or 3/4 speed automatic gearboxes were offered. Ford face-lifted Ranger just once in its first generation.
Second generation Ranger was a mild improvement of the first one, in looks and design, however in body styles, engine capacities and transmission, it was a whole new beast. Ford Ranger engines were offered in 2.3, 3.0 and 4.0 litre petrol capacities, last two being V6s. transmission was offered as 5 speed manual or 4/5 speed auto. This generation was improved once in 1995 and then again in 1998. Ford discontinued Ranger at the end of 2011 because of declining sales however, limited number of Ranger was produced, for specific customers, in 2012.
