Screw Modern SUVs, We’d Kill for This 1951 Ford F-1 Ranger Marmon-Herrington

By Tony Markovich - June 15, 2016

I truly am not sure I knew an SUV could give me these types of feelings. I mean, I always thought it was possible, and I’ve been meaning to experiment, but I never expected to like it so much. And I really like it. And to think, it’s been sitting under my nose for 60 years now and was produced by one of the biggest car companies in the world.

Well, it wasn’t all Ford. At the turn of the ’50s, Ford was missing out on a market that was still in its infancy. With other companies putting out off-road capable vehicles, Ford enlisted specialists Marmon-Herrington to add 4×4 to some of the existing models. The main one was the F-1 Ranger carry-all van. They didn’t realize it at the time, but they were building some of the first real SUVs.

The 4WD wasn’t the only change M-H was making. These were originally panel vans that had benches added and windows popped in. Not to mention some incredible wood paneling on the interior. Only 54 were made from 1949 through 1952. It has a flathead V8 and a four-speed manual transmission. It was restored by J&L Fabricating and Byers Custom, and according to Canepa, 400 hours were spent restoring the paint alone.

Whatever the price, this is a steal.