The Ford Ranger II

July 24th, 2007 by Shenron

Well, as was previously covered, by 1988 the Ford Ranger had become a moderately successful compact pickup truck with a decent hauling capacity for its size and finally the introduction of an engine that was respectable in the 2.9 Cologne V6. In 1989 however, ford redesigned and released a face-lifted nip and tuck job on the Ford Ranger, changing how the headlights appeared and giving it a much needed new set of engines. All 2.0 engines were dropped, and the 2.3 was boosted by 14 horses, the automatics were dropped except for the four speed and the newer better bigger and meaner 4.0L Cologne V6 was handed down by the car gods to the Ranger - giving it 160 horses, followed by a 145 horse replacement for the 2.9L Cologne - the Vulcan V6 3.0. After this in just a few short years the 1993 Ranger hit the market with a smoother design and more modern look, subtracting many of the manual transmissions leaving just one five speed, and also dropping the 2.9L all together.

Then came the present design, face-lifted and overhauled, in production since 1998, making it almost ten years old today. However there are rumors that this will indeed be the final era of the Ford Ranger compact, making the truck being produced today a possible non-appearance tomorrow. Over the past decade this truck has received many tweaks and design changes that are minor but keep it going, such as in 2004 with the new seats for safety and some minor grille and tail light updates. Today it includes options for a 143 horse 2.3L four strike, a 148 3.0 V6, and a lovely and very powerful for its class 207 Horse V6. Both transmissions are 5 speed with overdrive. Today the Ford Ranger is the only compact truck left on the market, with everyone else going to mid-sized vehicles, and because it has not received any major updates it is clear that the future for the Ranger is a very dim one.

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