1999 Ford Ranger

Ford's European version of its mighty F-Series, sharing the same design and styling cues as the hottest selling set of American Pickups, the Ford F-350 of the mid-1990's. But from there on out that's where the similarities between the F-Series and the Ranger end as this truck is very much a Mazda B-Series underneath.

The original Ford Ranger badge was actually placed on the controversial Edsel of 1957 to 1960, a car famous for being one of the worst creations in the whole of automotive history, or at least that's what most people think.

The Ranger as a pickup truck however made its début in 1982. Ford designed and engineered the North American version of the Ranger, which commenced manufacture in January 1982 for the 1983 model year and ended production in December 2011. The American version of the truck was once again based heavily on the Mazda equivalent, although styling came from contemporary American models. The truck was built to replace the Ford Courier, and be a more compact version of the mighty F-Series.

During its 29-year production run, the Ranger received several updates: notably, the 1989 model year facelift, the introduction of the second-generation model for 1993, a 1998 model year facelift of the same, and several smaller second-generation cosmetic changes in the 2001, 2004, and 2006 model years. The Latin and South American version was re-skinned in 2009 for the 2010 model year, receiving all-new exterior sheet metal while retaining the existing body structure. On December 22, 2011, the last USA-built Ranger rolled off the St. Paul, Minnesota assembly line.

This version of the Ranger built for the international market made its début in 1998, being simply a rebadged Japanese-built Mazda B-Series. Again, the truck was built to replace the Ford Courier, which had been based on the previous generation Mazda B-Series, and was later made into a van/utility version of the Ford Fiesta. The truck has gone through several face-lifts since then, and is currently in its 4th Generation that started manufacture in 2011.

The current Ranger T6 is much more reminiscent of current generation Ford F-Series trucks, being larger and more spacious so as to double as a family car. The main drawback of the previous Ranger was indeed the lack of rear space, unlike on real American pickups that are larger in size so as to double as multi-purpose vehicles.