Current Ranger Raptor will not be sold in the U.S., but the next generation version could be sold stateside.
Shortly after it became official that the Ford Ranger would be introduced in the United States, we learned that the high-performance Raptor version would not be sold to Americans. That came as a painful blow to those who had hoped to have the next-most-capable truck in the Motor Company lineup, but an interesting new report suggests that there could be a Ranger Raptor sold in the United States, but it isn’t likely to arrive until 2023.
LinkedIn Investigation
According to AutoGuide, some folks from Road & Track were checking out the LinkedIn profiles of a handful of engineers currently working with Ford Motor Company. It seems that many of them are working on a project with the P703 chassis code. It is believed that this chassis code belongs to the next generation Ranger, set to arrive in 2022 or 2023.
In one of these accounts, there was mention of a Raptor version of the P703 chassis that will be sold in the United States. If this code does apply to the next generation Ranger, this seems to be the first positive confirmation that there will eventually be a high performance version of the new midsize pickup in North America, but we have a long wait.
The next generation Ranger is expected to arrive for 2022 and the Raptor will likely drop a year or two later, so if this proves to be true, we are four or five years away from getting a proper high performance mid-sized Ford truck.
Bronco Raptor?
Road & Track also noted that some of the people working on P703 also worked on the current Ranger Raptor, but more notably, they have also worked on the new Bronco program. This brings life to the hopes of a new Bronco with Raptor inspiration and there is no question that a high performance off-road version of the new SUV would be a big hit with Ford fans.
Based on the popularity of the F-150 Raptor and performance utility vehicles as a whole in the United States, Ford would be crazy to not offer a high performance Ranger sooner or later. Unfortunately, it looks like it will be much later.
"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.
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"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.
