page_title: Ford Ranger (Americas)
section_title: Ford Courier (1972–1982)
hierarchical_section_title: Ford Ranger (Americas) / Development / Ford Courier (1972–1982)
caption_attribution_description: English: 1975 Ford Courier (Mazda B1800 for North America), an unexpected sight in TriBeCa, NYC.
context_page_description: The Ford Ranger sold in the Americas is a range of pickup trucks manufactured and marketed by Ford in North and South America under the Ranger nameplate. Introduced in early 1982 for the 1983 model year, the Ranger is currently in its fourth generation. Developed as a replacement for the Mazda-sourced Ford Courier, the model line has been sold across the Americas; Ford of Argentina began production of the Ranger for South America in 1998. Through its production, the model line has served as a close rival to the Chevrolet S-10 and its Chevrolet Colorado successor, with the Ranger as the best-selling compact truck in the United States from 1987 to 2004.
  From 2012 to 2018, Ford retired the Ranger model line in North America, concentrating on its full-size F-Series trucks. For the 2019 model year, Ford introduced a fourth generation of the Ranger. The first mid-size Ranger in North America, the fourth-generation Ranger is derived from the global Ranger T6.
  During the production of the first three generations, the Ranger was produced at Louisville Assembly, Edison Assembly, and Twin Cities Assembly Plant; the final 2012 Ranger was also the final vehicle produced at the facility.
context_section_description: For the 1972 model year, the Ford Courier was introduced as the first compact pickup truck sold by Ford.  Following the rise of the compact truck segment during the 1960s, Ford entered into a partnership with Mazda to market the Mazda B1800 in North America; the Courier would become the first of several jointly manufactured vehicles between the two companies from the 1970s into the 2000s.  Along with minimizing the risk for Ford of developing a vehicle in an unfamiliar market segment, the partnership provided Mazda with critically needed funds.
  While sharing the cab and chassis with its Mazda counterpart, to increase its sales potential in North America, the Courier adapted design elements of the Ford F-Series, with twin round headlamps, silver grille, and "FORD" lettering on the hood above the grille.  In 1977, the Courier and B1800 (later B2000) were redesigned with a larger cab, redesigned pickup bed, and tailgate.  While closer in appearance to its Mazda counterpart, the Courier was given signal/parking lamps inset in the grille (rather than the bumper); an optional 2.3L Ford engine was not available the Mazda pickups.
  From 1972 to 1982, the Ford Courier was manufactured alongside the Mazda B-Series in Hiroshima, Japan.  To avoid the 25% Chicken tax on imported trucks, both vehicles were imported as cab-chassis trucks (taxed at 4% tariff).  Following their importation to United States, pickup-truck beds shipped separately from Japan were installed before shipment to dealers.
caption: 1975 Ford Courier
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