Ford Ranger's "transformations" over the past 40 years

For more than 40 years, customers around the world have relied on the performance and reliability of the Ford Ranger to do more of what they love.

Launched in the U.S. in 1982, Ranger is a mid-size pickup truck with the “Built Ford Tough” spirit at its core. Ranger is more accessible, more capable – things customers have been asking for. Four decades later, Ranger is an essential part of Ford’s global pickup truck portfolio, sold in more than 180 markets around the world.

But where did it all start? Why the name Ranger? How did the Ranger evolve from its humble beginnings to a pickup with a host of smart features that allow owners to explore further and take on new challenges? Read on to find out. Ford's truck history Ford has been making trucks for more than 100 years – and even longer if you look at the company's origins. In fact, the third vehicle company founder Henry Ford ever built was a truck, in 1900 – three years before the Ford Motor Company was founded.

Ford had introduced light commercial vehicles as early as 1905, but it wasn’t until 1917 that Ford officially entered the truck business with the Model TT. Based on the Model T, the TT featured a reinforced chassis and rear axle, giving early versions a one-ton capacity. ‘Built stronger to last longer’, the success of the Model TT cemented Ford’s focus on reliable vehicles designed and built for tough jobs. Since then, Ford trucks have helped shape nations and industries, growing over a century to become the world’s best-selling truck brand.

The Evolution of the Light Pickup In mid-1933, Hubert French, then managing director of Ford Motor Company in Australia, received a letter from the wife of a farmer in Gippsland, Victoria. In the letter, she wrote: “My husband and I cannot afford both a car and a truck, but we need a car to go to church on Sunday and a truck to take our pigs to market on Monday. Can you help us?” French forwarded the letter to 23-year-old Lewis (Lew) Bandt, who immediately set to work creating a utility vehicle that would give farmers and tradesmen the comfort of a car and ample cargo space to work in when necessary.

Bandt's introduction of car-like utility into the truck was considered revolutionary at the time. Until the early 1930s, many car manufacturers and coachbuilders used wood or metal on a car chassis. Bandt's design was different. He created a utility vehicle with the design language of a coupe (a two-seater, steel-bodied, glass-windowed vehicle) with a steel cargo area built into the rear. He combined the side profile of a 'pickup' with the body of a coupe, giving it a cleaner look and increasing the cargo area behind the cab. The first production models were launched in 1934, and between 1940 and 1954, over 22,000 were sold. The original Ford utility vehicle (ute) designed by Bandt paved the way for the development of the world’s best-selling vehicles – the pickup truck and the MPV. It was not just an Australian invention, the concept was adopted around the world, copied by other manufacturers and has amassed a cult following everywhere. Bandt’s car-based ute format has endured over the years, through seven generations of the Falcon (1961-2016), the South African Bantam and even the current US-market Maverick with its monocoque chassis design. Bandt’s ute design has also endured in another way: the term ‘ute’ has become synonymous with ‘pickup’ in Australian markets ever since.

The Ranger Story The Ranger name has been a part of Ford's pickup truck history for nearly 60 years. The brand first appeared as a variant of the fourth-generation F-series pickup in 1965, then on the Bronco from 1972. The Ranger evolved outside the United States on the Ford Courier, a compact utility vehicle that Ford launched in 1972 and produced for a decade before introducing the all-new truck. 1982: Ford Ranger in the United States On January 13, 1982, the first Ford Ranger made its public debut at the Syracuse Auto Show as a new product that went on sale in 1983. Despite its compact size, the truck still had room for three people and a payload of 1,600 pounds (725 kg), while offering Ford's legendary strength and fuel economy. Five days after its public debut, the first production model rolled off the assembly line in Louisville, Kentucky, driven by its first U.S. owner, Ford employee Larry Melone. It was the beginning of a 29-year production run and three generations of the American-built Ranger. The Ranger was the best-selling compact pickup truck in the United States for 10 years from 1987 to 1996. The Ranger also built a formidable reputation in the SCORE off-road racing series, winning four consecutive titles from 1984 to 1987, and contributing to the success of the Ford Rough Riders Team from 1991 to 1995. 1998: The Global Ford Ranger The Ranger name first appeared on pickup trucks for the European and Asian markets in 1998. The Ranger replaced the Courier, which had been the face of Ford in the region for more than 30 years. The Ranger was introduced with three cab styles, two wheelbase options, and a choice of powerful, efficient engines. It was one of the first vehicles built at the AutoAlliance Thailand plant in Rayong. 2005: Ranger Wildtrak arrives The top-of-the-line Ranger at the time was the Wildtrak. It helped customers do the hard work while also meeting the needs of fun and indulgence. With larger wheels, a unique sports bar, bed rails, roof rails and side steps, the Wildtrak was equipped to satisfy every need. These features remain at the heart of the Wildtrak's design to this day. 2006: Second Generation Ford Ranger With global pickup design cues and two diesel engine options, the Ranger set new standards for efficiency and reliability. By this time, the Courier was discontinued in Australia, while a 2009 facelift for the Ranger introduced a new three-bar grille design and the sporty top-of-the-range Wildtrak was made available to more markets. 2011: Third Generation Ford Ranger The third generation Ranger was unveiled at the 2010 Australian International Motor Show in Sydney. Designed, engineered and developed in Australia, the Ranger replaced two regional variants with a global mid-size pickup. Billed as the most capable mid-size pickup Ford has ever built, the all-new pickup was manufactured in Rayong, Thailand and Silverton, South Africa, and sold in more than 180 countries. 2015: Third Generation Ranger Facelift Ford's new Kinetic design principles guided the design of the facelifted Ranger. A single-bar grille replaced the three-bar design. The interior was also redesigned with a more rugged-looking dashboard design that incorporated the central SYNC screen. The Ranger also introduces segment-first technologies, including lane-keeping assist, adaptive cruise control and front and rear park assist. 2016: Ford Thailand The Ford Thailand Manufacturing (FTM) plant, which opened in 2012, began production of the new Ranger to meet global demand.

2018: Ranger Raptor arrives Launched in Thailand in February 2018 and developed by Ford Performance in Australia, the Ranger Raptor takes off-road performance to a new level for markets that don’t have the F-150 Raptor. With a powerful 2.0-liter bi-turbo diesel engine, 10-speed automatic transmission, all-wheel drive, an upgraded chassis and FOX suspension specifically tuned for off-road use, the Ranger Raptor has delighted owners and test drivers alike. 2019: Ranger returns to the U.S. Looking similar to the global Ranger, the U.S.-spec model features a number of design changes – including a frame-mounted steel bumper – to comply with U.S. regulations and help increase payload capacity. Production of the model began on October 29, 2018 at the Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, Michigan. 2021: Fourth Generation Ranger debuts The fourth-generation global Ranger was unveiled in November 2021. With an all-new look and a customer-focused approach to design and development, the new Ranger features more high-tech features, smart connectivity, exceptional performance, better payload capacity and more versatility than ever before. The global Ranger project is led by Ford’s design and engineering team in Australia, with support from product development teams and expertise from Ford’s global network of engineers and designers. 2022: New Ranger Raptor arrives On February 22, Ford revealed the highest-performance variant of the Ranger – the Ranger Raptor – designed with smarter technology to handle the tough new-generation equipment. 2022: Ranger Raptor dominates the Baja 1000 The race-ready, yet fully road-legal Ranger Raptor performed almost flawlessly through one of the world's toughest and most famous off-road races, the SCORE-International Baja 1000 in Mexico and then back in Riverside, California. The high-performance pickup truck was prepared for the race in Australia by Kelly Racing and tested and tuned by Lovell Racing and Huseman Engineering in the United States. 2023: Ranger continues to evolve Ford has introduced new innovations, such as the Flexible Rack System and Off-Road Steering Assist, to help Ranger customers use their trucks in new and exciting ways. Note: The new Ford Ranger is designed, developed and engineered in Australia. The vehicle is built in Rayong, Thailand (at both the AutoAlliance Thailand plant and Ford Thailand Manufacturing Facility), and in Silverton, Pretoria (Ford South Africa), and is sold in more than 180 countries.