Major Shop Truck Vibes – The 1984 Ford Ranger XL

The year was 1984. The early Eighties were in full swing. Prince’s When Doves Cry was the number one song on the radio, the longest Major League Baseball game ever is played between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Chicago White Sox, lasting 25 innings played over 2 days, the Karate Kid comes out in theaters, and across the Atlantic Ocean, a 1 year-old Dutch boy would write a review of a model of this Ford Ranger in 38 years.

Major shout-outs to the Castheads guys as well as Johnny Lightning for allowing me to review this model!

Those who are familiar with me and my taste in cars know that I am first and foremost a Porsche guy, with a minor in wagons, the International Scout, and the Toyota Land Cruiser.

But I also have a serious affinity with shop trucks, and this little Ranger XL falls squarely into that category.

Since 1972 Ford sold the Mazda B-series small pickup in the US as the Ford Courier as a direct response to the sales successes of the Datsun and Toyota small trucks. Clearly this was an itch that needed to be scratched, and Ford wanted to be America’s back scratcher.

The trucks were made in Japan, however, and therefore subject to the 25% tariff in effect on light trucks. In response, Ford imported the Courier without the truck bed, and was thereby able to circumvent the 25% tariff, falling into a 4% category instead. By 1981 Ford must’ve gotten tired of paying even the 4% tax and started designing and building its own light truck, attaching the Ranger name.

The Ranger name itself had been used by Ford on a number of cars previously, starting with a sedan under the Edsel sub-brand, then becoming a mid- to high-level trim package on the F-series trucks and the Bronco until 1981.

Ironically, in 1994 the Ford light truck came full circle, when Mazda started selling a rebadged Ranger as the B-series in the U.S. and Canada.

In general I think Johnny Lightning makes great representations of cars, with some nice heft, and excellent details. Wheels and badges are on point, proportions done right, and usually the hood opens to reveal a pretty good approximation of an engine. To all of this, the JL Ford Ranger adds a working tailgate, so that is a bonus right there!

One of my favorite features on Johnny Lightning models is that they usually include a clever license plate. The one on this Ranger says “AFFORD1” which to me seems like an allusion to the fact that the Ranger was supposed to be, as it says on the model’s card, “a very stripped-down work truck with virtually no options, intended for fleet sales and jobsites.” In 1984 the Ranger retailed for around $7000, which is less than $20000 in 2022 money.

The execution on this model is great, and so is the styling. A lovely two-tone of Walnut Poly and Light Desert Tan certainly gives off plenty of early Eighties vibes, and I haven’t even said anything about the whitewall tires yet! Under the hood the 73hp 2.0L inline 4 is clearly visible, too.

Johnny Lightning’s Ford Ranger XL ticks all the boxes, from the wonderfully Eighties colors to the proportions and execution. A change of scenery is always nice, and stepping away from my Porsche universe into a little shop truck is certainly refreshing.