Five vehicles that are a Ford Ranger underneath

Wednesday, 24 April 2019

The Ford Ranger is New Zealand's best-selling vehicle and underpins a few vehicles you probably didn't know about too.

So we pretty much all know that the Ford Everest is based on the Ranger ute - they even share a face, so it is pretty obvious - leaving us hoping that a Raptor version of the Everest is still a possibility (please Ford?).

But there are also a surprising number of other vehicles around the world that are based on New Zealand's best-selling vehicle.

Mazda BT-50

Okay, so this is the obvious one - Mazda like to say they 'co-developed' the Ranger/BT-50 with Ford, but really it was Ford that did all the heavy lifting on this one and Mazda simply designed the exterior of its version. Yeah, okay, Ford did a better job of that too…

* Jeep sends a Gladiator into battle against a Ranger

* Mazda looks forward to BT-50 divorce from domineering Ford Ranger**

This arrangement flipped the situation that had been in place since 1972 when Ford first offered a rebadged second generation Mazda B-series ute as the Courier. The arrangement continued with the switch to the Ford Ranger/Mazda BT-50 nameplates in 2006, with the first generation of Ranger being a rebadged BT-50 developed by Mazda.

Ford Bronco

The revival of the Ranger in North America (a LHD version of our Ranger, but with the Mustang's 2.3-litre EcoBoost petrol engine - again, yes please Ford!) has also given rise to the rebirth of the legendary Bronco name, with the 2020 SUV being based on a shortened version of the Ranger's T6 platform.

A comedically cut-down Ranger test mule has been seen regularly doing the rounds and the Bronco is expected to be offered in two and four-door forms and be aimed directly at the Jeep Wrangler, removable doors, huge amounts of customisation and all.

Troller T4

Much in the way Apple's original iPod Touch was a sneaky dry run at the first iPhone, the awesome-looking Troller T4 is Ford's practice run for the 2020 Bronco.

Troller is a Brazilian 4x4 specialist that Ford quietly bought in 2007. In 2015 it released a new version of its obvious Jeep Wrangler knock-off T4, based on a - wait for it - cut down T6 Ranger platform.

Powered by the Ranger's 3.2-litre diesel engine, the T4 was also updated by Ford to look more like a cross between the Wrangler and a Bronco rather than the complete Jeep knock-off it originally was.

Arquus Trigger and Trapper

Is the JMC Yuhu based on the Ranger platform? Who knows?

Arquus is a French military vehicle manufacturer owned by Renault Trucks (itself owned by the Volvo Group, neither of which are related to their respective car brands anymore) that, among its heavy duty military trucks, also produces the Trigger light tactical vehicle and the Trapper light personnel carrier, which are based on the Ranger and Everest respectively.

Heavily reinforced and with a payload capacity of 1.3 tonnes for the Trigger and 1 tonne for the Trapper, Arquus says that both are compliant with NATO standards, with Euro 3 emission compliant engines.

The French army uses the Everest-based Trapper as a command and liaison vehicle.

JMC Yuhu and Yusheng S350 (maybe?)

Jiangling Motors has a joint venture with Ford in China, building licensed and Chinese-market only Ford. And maybe its own products based on Ford platforms?

It is actually hard to tell, because there is so much conflicting information about the two models that the cmpany says are related - the Yuhu ute and the Yusheng S350 SUV - yet then flatly contradicts that by saying the Yuhu is based on JMC's own platform, while the S350 is based on the Everest platform.

None of the exterior dimensions line up with the equivalent Fords (including wheelbases) anyway, so we are going with a big 'maybe' on these two…