Good morning! Today we’re taking a trip to a couple of exotic locales to look at a pair of Ford trucks that will seem familiar, yet different. Ever wondered what a Ford Ranger looks like in South America, or eastern Europe? You’re about to find out.
Yesterday we looked at a couple of GM coupes that were similar to cars my mom once drove. Both of them had their fans, and clearly I’m not the only one with memories of these two cars, but in our truncated voting timeframe due to the lateness of yesterday’s post (not my fault, by the way), the Opel Manta emerged as a clear winner.
Several of you expressed a fondness for the Beretta’s styling, which I agree with. It’s a sharp-looking car, and it has aged surprisingly well. Or maybe it’s just that you don’t see two-door cars much at all anymore, and certainly none as clean and simple as that. For me, though, between these two, it has to be the Opel. If I’m going to get a Beretta, it’s going to be an early V6 GT, or a Z26 with the Quad 4, and a manual either way.
Today’s challenge came to me by way of Opposite Lock, where member “dogisbadob” was lamenting the fact that we never got a crew-cab Ford Ranger in the US before the 2019 reboot. They posted two examples of Rangers from other markets – one for sale in Brazil, and one in Bulgaria – and noted that both are now past the 25-year minimum age for importation. So let’s take a look and see which one is a better choice to bring Stateside.
1999 Ford Ranger – 24,999 Brazilian Real (about $4,500 US)
Engine/drivetrain: 2.5-liter overhead cam inline 4 converted to run on natural gas, five-speed manual, RWD
Location: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Odometer reading: I don’t see it listed
Operational status: Runs and drives well
Ford sold the Ranger from 1983 to 2011, in a bunch of different configurations: standard cab, extended cab, long bed, short bed, with four- and six-cylinder engines, even briefly a diesel. One thing Ford never did offer, at least here in the US anyway, is a four-door crew cab. But owing to the popularity of crew-cab trucks in South America, Ford Argentina shortened the bed and squeezed in an extra pair of doors.
This Ranger is similar in spec to the US Ranger at the time, meaning double-wishbone front suspension, rack-and-pinion steering, and an enlarged 2.5-liter version of the old 2.3-liter “Pinto” engine. It’s backed by a five-speed manual transmission; Americans’ love of automatics doesn’t extend to all corners of the globe. I have to rely on translation software to get the skinny on these two trucks, but as far as I can tell, this one runs and drives well and has had a bunch of recent work done. It has also been converted to compressed natural gas; I assume the tank is in the bed under the tonneau cover.
The photos in this ad are terrible, and yes, that’s all the bigger they are. It looks like it’s in pretty good shape, but this is the only glimpse we get at the inside. It looks just like the dashboard and steering wheel of our Rangers, and why wouldn’t it, I suppose? Ford isn’t going to tool up a whole new interior for a different market.
The outside looks familiar as well. From the front doors forward, I think this is exactly the same as our Ranger. That’s a good thing, I suppose; if you get in a fender-bender, the parts are available at Pick-N-Pull, not South America.
1999 Ford Ranger – 8,600 Bulgarian Lev (about $4,800)
Engine/drivetrain: Diesel 2.5 liter overhead cam inline 4, five-speed manual, part-time 4WD
Location: Zverino, Bulgaria
Odometer reading: 260,000 kilometers
Operational status: Runs and drives well
Ford and Mazda trucks had a symbiotic relationship for many years. Early on, Ford sold Mazda’s B-series truck here in America as the Courier, before the Ranger was introduced. The two bloodlines parted ways at that point, but rejoined in 1994 when the US-market Mazda B-series became a Ranger in slightly different clothes. But Mazda kept making the B-series for other markets, and in Europe, the roles were reversed, and what was called a Ranger was actually a Mazda from 1998 until 2011.
This truck is also a crew cab, though like a lot of small trucks with four doors, it seems to share its wheelbase with the extended-cab and long-bed models. This makes for a small bed, and a very tiny sliver of bed-side behind the rear doors. It’s a little awkward-looking, but I like it – possibly because this style of truck is very popular in the Caribbean, so it makes me think of nice warm tropical places.
This truck also has an option not available in American Rangers since 1986: a diesel engine. It’s Mazda’s own design, turbocharged, and putting out 109 horsepower. This isn’t going to be a fast truck, but it should be efficient, and it should chug along effortlessly for a long time. It has a five-speed manual, of course, and part-time four-wheel-drive. The ad also mentions a locking rear differential, which is a nice touch.
It’s in nice shape, both inside and out, though it doesn’t look like it has been babied. It has 260,000 kilometers on it, about 162,000 miles. It’s not a ton, but it’s not nothing either. Still, it looks ready to earn its keep. And can I just say how much I miss rope cleats and tie-down rails on the outside edge of truck beds?
Honestly, if I were going to import a car to the US, I’m not sure I’d bother with something as subtle as a Ford Ranger. I’d go for a Fiat Coupe or a Renault Twingo, or something. But I do love pickup trucks, and it’s interesting to see the different interpretations of the same idea around the world. If you were to bring one of these into the US, which one would it be?
(Image credits: sellers)
Nobody’s said they want the Bulgarian one so they can “Put it in H”, as Crazy Vaclav said. I am disappointed with you all.
So instead of the tie down rails on the bed sides, you could say the Brazilian ranger was going for the shaved look?
The blue one from Bulgaria looks pretty slick and it’s clean. Also, Mazda + diesel
This was one the hardest ones so far I think. The Brazilian one looks funky, but I think it would still look better as a 2 door. But then I could get a European one where I live, so I wouldn’t need to import it. So the Brazilian is more interesting, and may be unique. In the end I went with the Bulgarian.