The Ford Ranchero is a coupe utility that was produced by Ford between 1957 and 1979. Unlike a standard pickup truck, the Ranchero was adapted from a two-door station wagon platform that integrated the cab and cargo bed into the body. A total of 508,355 units were produced during the model's production run. Over its lifespan it was variously derived from full-sized, compact, and intermediate automobiles sold by Ford for the North American market.
During the 1970s, the Ranchero name was used in the South African market for a rebadged Australian Ford Falcon utility. Shipped from Australia in complete knock down (CKD) form, these vehicles were assembled in South Africa at Ford's plant in Port Elizabeth. In Argentina, a utility version of the locally produced Ford Falcon was also called Ranchero.
The original Ranchero sold well enough to spawn a competitor from General Motors in 1959, the Chevrolet El Camino.
History
The first Ford Model T and Model A pickup trucks were created from roadsters by placing a pickup box behind the body of a car. In 1934, Ford Australia's designer Lew Bandt modified a coupe with a smoothly integrated loadbed that could be used like a car to drive to church or to deliver pigs to market. This created the coupe utility which remains a popular body style known as the "ute" in Australia. In North America, pickup trucks evolved into a heavier duty form with cabs and beds that were quite distinct from passenger automobiles. The Ranchero was the first postwar American vehicle of its type adapted from a popular sedan from the factory. It combined the sleek looks of a sedan with the utility of a light-duty pickup truck.
First generation (1957–1959)
Introduced in December 1956, three months after the traditional September model year start-up, the Ranchero was based on the standard and new-for-1957 full-sized Ford platform, specifically the short-wheelbase Custom sedan, two-door Ranch Wagon station wagon, and utilitarian Courier sedan delivery. Essentially a Courier with an open, reinforced bed, its own unique rear window and integrated cab and cargo box, the Ranchero was initially offered in two trim levels, and throughout the model run, was built on the corresponding automobile assembly line, but sold as a truck through Ford's truck division. An extremely basic standard model was marketed to traditional pickup truck buyers such as farmers, and the Custom picked up most of the options and accessories available on the Fairlane line, including stainless steel bodyside mouldings and two-tone paint.
Upscale models were badged both as a Fairlane and Ranchero, with a stylized representation of a Longhorn as the symbol for the model located on the tailgate. Indeed, print advertising of the time played on the theme of the American Southwest that the Spanish model name and Longhorn symbol were meant to evoke, showing artistic representations of the vehicle being used in ranching and outdoor activities, proclaiming it as "More Than A Car! More Than A Truck!" The Ranchero was a hit with both the automotive press and the buying public, filling an untapped market niche for vehicles with the utility of a light pickup and the ease of operation and riding characteristics of a car. In fact, the Ranchero had a marginally higher cargo capacity by about 50 lb (23 kg) than the half-ton F-Series pickup. Both standard and Custom could be ordered with any engine available for Ford cars, all the way up to the "Thunderbird Special". In Canada, the Ranchero was also available in the Meteor line-up. Seat belts and padded instrument panels were optional. However, this would be the last time the vehicle would grow either in size or trim for several years to come. The windshield was also 25% larger. and was offered in 26 colors (11 solid shades, 11 two-tone combinations with white on top, and four other two-tone choices).
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| assembly=Lorain, Ohio, United States (⧉)<br>Buenos Aires, Argentina (⧉)
| related= Ford Falcon<br>Ford Fairlane<br>Ford Econoline
In 1960, the Ranchero became much smaller, based on Ford's compact Falcon, specifically the two-door sedan delivery variant. The popularity of small, economical cars like the Volkswagen Beetle perpetuated a shift in thinking among the three largest American manufacturers; 1959 had the introduction of the 1960 Falcon along with the 1960 Chevrolet Corvair and Plymouth Valiant. A pickup version of the Volkswagen Bus and a van based on the Chevrolet Corvair were offered, as well. The economic recession of the late 1950s also certainly played a role. Ford believed the market wanted a more practical vehicle, one much smaller, lighter, and cheaper than a full-sized pickup truck, and indeed the Ranchero sold well in this incarnation. Now marketed in print as the "Falcon Ranchero", the new vehicle's standard powerplant was an economical straight-6. In 1961, the straight-6 was offered, and in 1963, the optional V8 was offered in addition to the 144 and 170. The two-speed Ford-O-Matic automatic transmission (offered between 1960 and 1963) or three-speed C4 Cruise-O-Matic could be ordered as could a three-speed manual transmission. The Ranchero had an 800-lb load capacity.
Three almost entirely different coupé utility bodies were available for this generation of Falcon: the Australian Falcon Utility differed in having a shorter rear overhang than North American models, a cargo box that extended farther forward than the rear window, and shorter doors, while the Argentinian version also shared the sedan's overall length and short "four-door" doors, adding higher and more squared-off cargo box sides.
The Ranchero evolved along with the Falcon in 1964, becoming just a little larger along with its parent and using the same basic body style for 1964 and 1965. In 1965, the V8 replaced the discontinued 260 and an alternator replaced the generator in all Ford cars.
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File:1960 Ford Falcon Ranchero (539345128).jpg|1960 Ford Falcon Ranchero
File:Ford Falcon Ranchero - August 2015.jpg|1961 Ford Falcon Ranchero
File:Ford Falcon Ranchero 1962 (2437643534).jpg|1962 Ford Falcon Ranchero
File:1963 Ford Falcon Ranchero.jpg|1963 Ford Falcon Ranchero
File:1963 Ford Ranchero (1).jpg|1963 Ford Falcon Ranchero
File:1964 Ford Ranchero Coupe Utility (26471010190).jpg|1964 Ford Falcon Ranchero
File:1965 Ford Ranchero Pickup (8642875869).jpg|1965 Ford Falcon Ranchero
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