| 1965 Ford F-100 Ranger |
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| I was fortunate enough to have found one of these trucks last year and bought it. The truck I found was in Colorado and was an original 43,000 mile truck. I know what you are saying right now, how do I know the odometer did not roll over more than once? First off the woman I bought it from told me it was original miles. She was told that by the previous owner who was also the original owner. After I got the truck home I drove it for several months before I started restoring it. The steering was tight with absolutely no play in it, the front end was tight and nothing wore out. The cab was tight with no rattles. The seats and carpeting had no holes, tears, or any wear on them. The pedal pads on the clutch and brake are identical to the ones on my F 250 Super Duty daily driver with 100,000 miles on it and had about half the wear of my Super Duty. The engine ran perfectly and everything on the truck works perfectly. The engine did leak oil as every seal on it needed replacing from years of sitting. When I tore the engine down to reseal it I found it to be very clean inside and showed no excessive wear. So with what I was told and what I found I have no doubt the truck is an original 43,000 mile truck. It has sat out all its life and needed paint and a lot of attention. |
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| This was in Raton N.M. on the way home fron Colorado where I picked up the truck. |
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| After I arrived home with it. The truck is a running driving truck and is mechanically sound. It does need cosmetics. |
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| What makes a Ranger a Ranger the Mustang bucket seats. Note the seats and the carpet are both original. The red vinyl in the seats have turned dark from exposure to the sun, the carpet is sun faded. My truck did not come equiped with the optional console. I installed the console after I got the truck. I had removed the black curtain that coves the gas tank Click here to see the progress of the restoration. |
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| This page is devoted to the over looked and little known of Ranger pick ups that were made in 1965, and 1966. In 1965 Ford came out with a new option for Ford pick ups called the Ranger option. It consisted of bucket seats, carpeting, a curtain that covered the gas tank behind the seats and special badges that said RANGER. Another option that was only available if you had the Ranger option was a console. These trucks used the same seats as the 65, 66 Mustangs. The seat pattern was the same as the Mustang standard interior and not the Pony interior. The optional console for these trucks was the same console as the 64, 65 Falcons. They were so few of these trucks produced that most people have never heard of them, much less seen one. The first production Ford truck to see the bucket seats was the 1964 models. This was called a Sports package in 64, they seem to be more rare than the 65, 66 models. For that year Ford must have still been experimenting with the idea. I have seen several different configurations for that year. I have seen them with the Falcon bucket seats right down to the identical same pattern that was on the 63 Falcon Futura and Sprint seats. I have seen them with bucket seats that look more like the buckets that was in the Fairlane Thunderbolts of 64 and the Ford Econoline vans. I have also seen them with both the 63 and the 64 Falcon consoles. |
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| Page from 1966 sales brochure |
| Own a Ranger? Join the Ranger Registry. Click here |
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| Page fron 1965 sales brochure |
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