Ford introduced the Ranger nameplate on the North American continent for its compact pickup segment and proved to be more successful than expected.
The blue-oval brand unveiled the Ranger’s third generation in 1998 and looked very similar to its predecessor. In 2007, when the world financial crisis struck, Ford understood the market’s need for a lower budget pickup and burned the midnight oil to launch a facelifted version of its already ten-years-old compact pickup.

At the front, it featured a front fascia that resembled the F-series, with its three-slats grille and two vertical openings that flanked them. Even the headlights looked similar, although they were scaled down. For the base version, the car featured black bumpers. The Ranger was available with a 6 ft (1.82m) bed in the Super Cab version and a cabin fit for four. Ford offered the compact pickup in three trim levels: XL, XLT, and Sport and exclusively for the SuperCab as FX4. The latter added 16” alloys, heavy-duty suspension and AT tires fitted as standard.

Ford offered the Ranger with suicide-doors in the rear and two jump-suits where a kid could sit for a short distance. The same area could have been used as small storage for a bucket of paint. The rest of the interior was the same, with easy-to-use controls. If they worked, Ford didn’t bother changing them.

Under the hood, the carmaker offered a choice of three engines, starting with the fuel-efficient 2.3-liter gasoline. The range-topper was the 4.0-liter V-6 paired to a 5-speed manual.