![]() ![]() The two-door-based Rancheros were marketed through the Ford Truck Division, which had been selling Couriers all along. Four-door offerings comprised six-and nine-passenger Country Sedans and the woody-look Country Squire. Included were three two-door models: Courier Sedan Delivery, Ranch Wagon, and the more deluxe Del Rio. In discussing the 1957 Ranchero, it must be treated as an integral part of the Ford station wagon lineup. The most expedient way to answer GM, Ford reasoned, would be to give the Ute U.S. While buyers didn't exactly flock to the showrooms like fans to a Buddy Holly concert, sales were encouraging enough to convince Ford management that there was at least a small market niche for a pickup in a Sunday suit. What's so amazing is that Ford never marketed the concept in this country prior to 1957.įor more information on the 1957-1959 Ford Ranchero, continue on to the next page. Old Utes are fairly rare in Australia - most were worked to death - and are almost non-existent in the U.S. After that, Utes became American-designed Rancheros with the unique small rear-quarter windows removed. The roadster was dropped after 1938, though the coupe soldiered on for another 20 years. Beginning in 1940, the spare was moved inside behind the front seat. From 1932 to 1934 the spare tire was carried in the left front fenderwell, and from 1935-1939 it rode just below the left rear-quarter window, in front of the rear fender. This model sported small, squat rear-quarter windows that remained a Ute trademark through 1958. Despite the Great Depression, the Ute caught on so fast in the Australian outback that in 1933 a coupe version was added. It used separate rear fenders, which weren't eliminated until 1949, as on the passenger cars. Sheep ranchers, meanwhile, affectionately shortened the name to "Ute." This was a roadster with the body section behind the driver replaced by a fleetside bed, which was flush with the doors and an integral part of the body. Ford of Australia, it could be argued, introduced the first true Ranchero in 1932 - the Utility. ![]() The roots of the 1957 Ranchero, however, actually go "Down Under" to the land of eucalyptus trees, koala bears, and kangaroos. High-style pickups remain trendy to this day. Unlike the Ranchero's companion new Ford body style, the 1957-1959 retractable hardtop-convertible Skyliner, the Ranchero's influence was more far reaching - both Ford and Chevrolet sedan-pickups were built for another 20 years or more. The movie and its songs are long forgotten, but the 1957-59 Rancheros remain among the best of Fifties collectibles, right up there with boomerang designs, far-out pink and turquoise furniture, and Philco Predicta TV sets. Young men mooned over Kim Novak, and Elvis Presley had the world "All Shook Up." One of the many films imbued with the boy-loves-girl, song-and-dance mood of the times was April Love, starring clean-cut Pat Boone and wholesome Shirley Jones-not to mention a nifty 1957 Ford Ranchero Custom. It was neither the best of times nor the worst. Among them was the Ranchero, a novel car-pickup that was inspired at least in part by Ford's Australian "Ute." During the 1950s, exotic new body styles were the order of the day at Ford. ![]()
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