Ranchero: Truck, Car, or Both?
Ford-derived concept to combine utility and comfort dates back to the 1930s.
Popular Concept
Truck or car? The best answer is neither and/or both. Rancheros belong to the somewhat obscure class of 'coupe utility' vehicles—a Ford-derived concept that dates back to the 1930s. Produced between 1957 and 1979, the Ranchero was the first factory-built vehicle of its kind on the market. Despite this, it forever lives as the second cousin to the now, more popular Chevrolet El Camino.
Success Package
The first Ranchero was cleaved from the 1957 Del Rio—Ford's stylish, but short-lived, two-door station wagon. With its cab and cargo bed united as one in a 'trucklet' package, the Ranchero was an immediate success and sold well. So much so that General Motors scrambled to release its own coupe utility, the Brookwood station wagon-based, 1959, El Camino
Free Spirit
Over half a million Rancheros were made during its twenty-three production run. Ford heavily promoted the Ranchero as a stylish cosmopolitan vehicle, equally adept at work as it was for play. From a popular culture perspective, it was meant to symbolize the free spirit of the 1960s and 1970s—or at least that is what Blue Oval marketing tried to achieve.
Distinct Style
The Ranchero did however suffer from a slight identity crisis for the majority of its production run. The flip-flop between car and truck was only compounded by its ever-changing design. In a unique approach, the Ranchero was patterned after select Ford cars, which led to seven distinct generations of Rancheros and numerous body style changes.
Coined Fixture
The Ranchero concept dates back to the mid-1930s. Yet, the car-truck combination was nothing new. Aftermarket wooden or metal utility bodies had long been available since the Model T. The key difference was when Louis 'Lew' Bandt, a young Ford Australia designer, introduced luxury to the utilitarian hybrid, and the term 'Ute' was coined—now a fixture of the Australian vocabulary.
Comfort Hauling
Lore has it that an Australian farmer's wife wrote Ford asking for a vehicle that could carry the family to church on Sunday but also bring pigs to market on Monday. Given the difficult economic times, most families could not afford both a car and a truck. Ford's quick response was a modified 1934 Model 40 five-window coupe that combined comfort with hauling capabilities.
Photo courtesy of Shannons.
Sport Scoop
As the muscle car era dawned, the Ranchero lost some of its utilitarian identity in favor of high horsepower. The upgraded 1971 Ranchero GT best typified the move. Ford pitched the new design as a “bold, pulse-pounding sport pickup.” It was fitted with a 'Ram-Air' induction system, and a pop-through 'shaker' hood scoop and offered with the optional 'super-performance' CJ-R 429 motor.
Production Party
The Ranchero began to shed its sports persona in favor of its luxury roots as EPA standards increased in the 1970s. To compensate, Ford adopted an appeal to machismo with the sales slogan, “For the man in charge.” By 1979, the party was over and the Ranchero was pulled from production. Straddling the line somewhere between car and truck, Rancheros really do defy definition.
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