Ford Ranger Review

History has been good to the Ford Ranger, a compact pickup truck introduced by Ford in 1983 to replace the Mazda supplied Courier. The Courier was an ugly little truck, prone to body and undercarriage rust, but featuring a peppy and economical engine that lasted longer than the truck itself.

Ford Ranger Review

When Ford began planning its own compact truck in the late 1970s, the automaker decided to take the best of the Courier and add in its own truck knowledge, but on a much smaller scale. Ford had three decades of F Series experience to tap, but they were not particularly good at building vehicles on a small scale, at least in the US.

But being small truck challenged worked to Ford's advantage. When designing the Ranger, Ford looked at what it was already good building along with the Courier before comparing its soon to be released model with what Toyota and Datsun (Nissan) were offering, the compact truck leaders of that time.

Good thing too. Because from the onset, the Ford Ranger appealed to small truck buyers who were just getting used to a market which would eventually spawn many competitors.

Miniature F Series

Ford made sure that its all new Ranger offered the same robustness and quality found in its popular F-Series line. In many ways the Ranger was and has always been a smaller scale version of the F-Series, something mentioned often in Ford Ranger reviews. Styling, body architecture, and 4x4 capabilities were incorporated from the very beginning, distinguishing attributes that appealed to buyers back then as they do today.

That first generation Ford Ranger was released in March 1982 as a 1983 model continuing in production through the 1988 model year. One of the first engines used was the 2.0L I4, a debored version of the motor found in the Ford Pinto, a subcompact car retired two years earlier. That engine was slow as molasses, offering just 72 horsepower.

Optionally the 2.3L Pinto engine was also sold, though with just 86 horsepower it was still underpowered. Fortunately, a 115-hp 2.8L V6 was also offered as well as the weakest, but most fuel efficient engine of them all: a 59 horsepower 2.2L Mazda diesel.

Lots of Competition

Ford Ranger reviews of earlier days focused on how this truck compared with the competition which was chiefly defined as the Mitsubishi Mighty Max, Toyota Pickup (Hilux), Chevrolet S10, Datsun (Nissan 720), and others.

A lot of the comments made by Ranger enthusiasts remarked how underpowered earlier engines were, while praising gas mileage approaching 30 mpg. Rust in the floor boards, along the exterior, and in the vicinity of the rear bumper. Still, most rust complaints come from people who live in snowy states where road salt is used liberally to de-ice roads.

On the other hand, having access to 4x4 capability, an extended cab, decent interior, nice color schemes, and killer wheels seemed to make these Ford Ranger reviews stand out.