The 1st little Ford pickup, the Courier, was a rebaged Mazda. Same with the Chevy Luv, which was a rebaged Isuzu. Ford designed and built the Ranger for the 1983 model year to compete with GMs S Series truck that debuted the year prior. The Mazda then became a rebaged Ranger. Same happened with the S 10 in its 2nd generation, being rebaged the Isuzu Hombre. The Ford 2.3 dates back to the Ford Pinto, great little engine
NDC
I have the 4.0L V6 and love that little Ranger
rered
I'm a Chevy man at heart. I currently have an '83 s-10 strip down model. But I have to say, my 95 ranger was an awesome little truck. My bro in law bought it in 96 with 10k. My dad took it over and it went back and forth for years until I bought it for 500 but in 06 with 193K on it. I had it until 2020 when it finally got too much for my skills to keep up. It ran like a top, just needed body work and a clutch master cylinder. The ODO stopped working at 229K and I know I put more than 30K more before finally selling it to my buddy. That lil truck owed us nothing...
gshell
FORD RANGER!!!! THATS A FORD FUCKING RANGER.
punkrockskulls
Own a 95 ranger with 325k miles. Top end rebuilt 6 years ago. It’s my daily 16miles transportation vehicle. Getting 16mpg. I drive 14 days on 1 tank. Manual 5 speed monster baby!
lbjr
I drive a Mazda and it's an awesome little car. 2.0L 4 cylinder and a 6 speed manual get me a lifetime average of 36 mpg so far.
mistah_nahamsha
The way he said hoodscoop gave me goosebumps
BananaBoy_
I got a Mazda b2300 and they definitely are fun trucks with lots of personality.
tjsmith
Yeah, I've got an 02 Ranger XLT RWD extended cab with the 3.0 Vulcan. Going on 219k miles, it still has the original engine and automatic transmission. She's a good little truck and I love her.
jordanhart
I had the extended cab version of that truck. 2.3L is like the ford 300. They run forever!
LimitedGunnerGM
My dad had a 2004 Mazda before he traded it for a Ranger... Idk why, but he still has that Ranger and it's still kicking ass
TheEerieMaster
Good little truck. Hard to find a good one today. If someone does have one today they think it’s made out of gold.
shaserv
I have a '93, it's the latest model truck I own. I thought about a coyote swap, but decided to build and turbo the 2.3 instead. 400 hp and 360 lb/ft torque and half the weight of a V8.
StrokeHanded
My first truck 86' Ranger 5 speed Manual Transmission XL EFI 2.9 Ltr. V6 Cologne Engine. /Plane Engine, over 500, 000+ miles and still rolling.
chrismonreal
The Ranger, and Ranger based Explorer were a joint project. They were not completely made by Mazda or Ford, but had significant from both.
The joke among the number of Mazda fans for a while was that Mazda's only hybrid was really a Ford (Tribute hybrid=Ford Escape hybrid).
AlexandarHullRichter
My first truck that I learned how to drive in was basically this with a long bed and super cub with jump seats with a newer 2010 body style it was a 2010 2WD only Ford Ranger XLT super cab with the 2.3 L inline 4 cylinder engine black with black and gray cloth interior automatic with a bench seat I loved It was so simple and for a truck it drove really nice. You could park it just about anywhere. The fuel mileage was great mine in particular had an aftermarket toolbox in the back which was a nice addition all in all a very good little truck. It started up every time no problems ever and if it did, it was very simple to work on. I miss it. I would buy another and I probably will but this time I would like it to be red or another color than black because black gets too hot in the sun and you can’t keep it clean but I would give anything to have that truck back
sbuickguy
It has the Gen z anti theft stick in it
danielfinney
1990s Rangers were unkillable. Had a 94 as a work truck with the v6. Damn thing just kept on going no matter what I threw at it, and I threw a LOT at it. It had no back window, no ac, no radio, a short in the system requiring me to unhook the battery at the end of the day, and a family of ants in the extended cab (they never bothered me, so I just let them live their lives). It ended up outliving the company, so a coworker bought it for himself despite having 400k+ miles, because that was simply a damn good truck.
downsouth
Managed to get a ranger from my brother in law, last year of the pushrod 4.0 v6. Thought about a engine swap but the 2.8 cummins kit cost too much. would like it to sip on the fuel but can't complain too much, from factory no egr and nice cold ac
matthewhoffman
The S-10/15 has got to be one of the most popular v-8 swaps ever
