Car Carrier of the Day: Ford Couriers Being Couriered by an International
– Posted on August 17, 2020
-
-
-
American Brands: GM 
American Brands: Ford 
American Brands: Chrysler 
American Brands: AMC, Jeep and All Others 
Automotive Histories and Misc. 
Asian Brands 
UK Brands 
Australian Brands 
European Brands 
Cars Of A Lifetime & Auto-Biography 
Buses 
Trucks, Pickups and Vans 
Design 
Trains, Planes & Ships 
Motorcycles, Trikes, Bicycles 
Engines, Transmissions and other Tech 
Tractors, Lawn Mowers, Off-Road Equipment 
RVs, Motorhomes, Trailers, Campers
I’ll take one please. I don’t even care what color it is!!!
The guacamole color of the rig was a bad idea. It makes the whole package look icky.
It looks like green zinc chromate aircraft primer, an excellent corrosion protection.
I wonder what was the last pickup available with white wall tires?
A lot of people had kitchen appliances in that color back then. No wonder everyone was thin. The refrigerator took away your appetite.
These revised Couriers looked a lot more “Ford” than their predecessor did, almost like a mini-Fairmont trucklet. The prior ones though seemed to be more common, I guess the competition got stronger and eventually that’s why the Ranger was developed once it was clear this was not just a passing fad. Even though the fad did eventually sort of pass, I guess…
Hmm, I know what you mean by the fad passing, in some ways, but it also continued in an interesting fashion with the Mazda trucks being sold as Rangers elsewhere in the world for a long time, until Ford brought it back in house and relaunched the Ranger.
The whole “captive import” concept (from US perspective) has evolved in an interesting way with the advent of global platforms and domestic design and manufacturing. I’d suggest that in many ways the Tacoma and Tundra, built only in North America and sold almost exclusively here, are American trucks with Japanese nameplates; just the opposite of the Courier.
All three had the tides turn, with Isuzu and Mitsubishi also selling versions of US trucks, instead of supplying them to the Big 3.
And now Isuzu is partnered with Mazda for their global mid-size trucks.
The Ranger currently assembled in the USA….is an very old Mazda pickup…..Mazda itself has moved with an improved product on to compete with Mitsubishi,Nissan,Toyota,etc (globally speaking). Here in the USA (2020)the Ranger scores all the way at the bottom compared to the competition. Even the aging Frontier here in the USA is a better truck than the Ranger.
The current Ranger was designed by Ford in the US with the intention of offering it here from the begining. Of course by the time that it was ready for market the US small truck market had shrunk considerably so it was only released overseas where yes it was sold as a Mazda in addition to being sold as a Ford.
In the 90s Ford and Mazda actually reversed the relationship and the 94-09 US market B series was a modified Ford Ranger. Mazda also briefly sold 2 door Explorers. as the Navajo.
International S series cab, a real piece of junk. We had around 200 of these jewels in our fleet, the build quality out of the plant was atrocious. Frame rails that had holes punched in the wrong locations, cab seams missing the sealant which ended up letting water in right where the fuse panel is. Seam fits at the rear of the cab that fit so poorly you could drop business cards thru them. Bell housings that had holes in them allowing water in which eventually ended up with a rusted starter that would fail. These trucks were DOT plow trucks so leaks were allowing a sloppy mix of corrosive crud into areas that needed to be clean and dry. The worst of it was these trucks needed to last minimum of 15 years.
Wow, that could be problematic on a salt truck! My fleet had an 86 with the same cab. Took 20 years to get really bad. Body mount points spread themselves all over NJ. . Found a good one and swapped it out. Ran a DT466, one of their best engines. Had to let it go went it failed NJ. Down to Mexico it went where I’m sure it’s still going strong.
Polistra is right
Guacamole is icky
But no need to fight
I’m just being picky
-The Poest
The Poest reminds me the mo-est,
of a fella who was oft though nearly poet,
ironically, it was he himself who didn’t realize it.
You know you’re talking small trucks when you can stack ’em three high and still drive under an overpass. Now someone will probably point out a rig with three larger trucks stacked! Still, this packing job is a work of art.
I didn’t realize the International S series cab was that old. I always think of it as an 80s design,