The Ranger GT was designed to offer sports-car performance with the functionality of a small pickup truck. But did it succeed?
In the modern era of the American pickup truck, performance packages are typically designed for off-road fun, rather than on-road handling. But back in 1986, Ford launched a new package for their sporty little Ranger pickup, which focused on-road performance.
The Ranger GT featured a fuel injected V6, a close ratio 5-speed manual transmission, aluminum wheels wrapped in Goodyear Eagle GT radials, a sport suspension system, a 3.73 rear gear (with short the bed), and black exterior trim with painted (instead of chrome) mirrors and bumpers. All of these characteristics bolstered the simple-yet-sporty exterior design.
Really, the 2.9-liter Cologne V6 with 140 horsepower fell a bit short of other GT-badged Ford products, but compared to the other engine options of the at the time, the Ranger GT V6 was a quick little pickup!
To show off its performance capabilities, the Motor Company put together a commercial with the sporty pickup doing a big burnout, before racing towards a row of tightly packed cones. Thanks to its tuned suspension, the Ranger GT is able to weave comfortably through the cones with minimal body roll and plenty of poise.
Further into the video, the little pickup accelerates hard before kicking the back-end around, and finishing the video with a dramatic spin to a stop. As the video ends, the narrator proclaims that the 1986 Ranger GT is the first sports car with a bed.
"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.
"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.
"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.
"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.
"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.
