“I want something different, I want something special…” is the kind of expression that’s not rare in our consumerist culture. And today, to please such desires, how about a 1986 Lincoln/Ford Ranger Continental custom job? Would that fit the bill? Or should I say 1986 Ford/Lincoln Ranger XLT Mark IV? Not sure, actually, as the badges and emblems are not fully sorted in this custom job from the 1980s.
Naming issues aside, what can’t be denied is that it’s… different… and special. A custom job I had no idea existed, but I doubt I’ll ever forget. And curiously, while I think it’s an appalling thing, I also find myself weirdly attracted to it. Turns out, this Neo-classical truck has a spell on me; who would have thought?
This creation has been around for a while, and clues about its existence are scattered online here and there. It’s, supposedly, a late 1980s custom creation for a SEMA show. Could be…
However funky the mashup may seem, it’s actually pretty well sorted; this ain’t your usual backyard hatchet job. Some of it is ungainly, but all the same, it works. Kind of. Or is it that Ford products have ideal genes for anything neoclassical?
The earliest trace I found of this thing is from a Reddit post from 2014 or so. Apparently taken from a Craigslist ad where the then-owner was asking about 8,500 for the Neo-classical wonder…
That discount-rate sale apparently didn’t do much. Next I could trace the creation was to last November, when it was offered at a Tampa auction. Looking worse for wear, with the typical black-eye of the concealed headlamp era, looking like a castaway pirate on a hostile “won’t sell” shore.
But, looks like someone took pity on the castaway. After some cleaning and –I assume– some polishing, the car is back with air on its tires, and its black-eye is gone after eyelid extraction. No longer a dubious pirate, just a clean citizen ready to rejoin society.
From what I can tell, the castaway’s rescuer didn’t do all that work out of the goodness of his/her heart, since the Lincoln/Ranger is now for sale at Carfax.
All fun aside, I love this thing. That toilet seat looks so natural in there… A missed opportunity, though, why not a Breezeway roof on that cabin? Why not add all of the Ford/Lincoln goodies?
Whatever luxury aspirations the Continental/Mark IV/Ranger XLT exterior sells, disappear as soon as the doors are opened, as the interior is plain Ranger. Not even leather, man? Just a Mark IV badge lazily applied on the steering with the Blue Oval still visible below. Talk about crossover; lazy crossover.
At least the mouse fur dash cover has Continental MarkIV stitched on it, so not all details were ignored. Now, if I forked out the $4,500 they’re asking for this Neo-classical oddity, I know what I would do with it first: Order some proper custom-made faux wood dashboard embellishments! The kind I always saw in R&T’s back pages but never bothered to think much about, as they would have looked silly on my ’68 Beetle. But a RangerXLT/Continental/MarkIV thing? Show me the order form!
Not the best image to tell the mileage on this thing. I think it read 63,660 miles? And what’s powering it? Don’t be deceived by the dual tailpipes seen in earlier shots; according to the Carfax ad, it’s a 4-cyl. in there. Probably the Lima that this Ranger originally came with.
Now, can you imagine if Iacocca ever saw this? Yes, he was at Chrysler at the time, but maybe he could have gotten his neo-classical shtick applied to a new direction. Think about it, how different SUV history could have been?
I admire the effort. It looks fairly well done. I think I like the modifications to the back end more than I like the front.
And if the mileage is truly 63k, I’d say it’s a bargain at $4500. Heck, I’d pay that for a bog-standard Ranger with 63,000 miles.
Probably a custom made open flower car made for a funeral home that had a fleet of Lincoln’s.
100%.
I was thinking (assuming) they went on ahead with a 302 in there.. but alas. Even a 6 would be acceptable.
There’s a thin line between appealing and apalling…I can’t quite decide which side of that line I am on. Perhaps both? What I can decide is that this was more thought, work, and differentiation than Ford itself put into either of their own actual Lincoln-branded pickup trucks.
I’ve done a couple crazy Ranger builds myself. Cool
I sort of like it. It is like the Leata Caballero of pickup trucks.
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/chevrolet-mini-carlo-brougham-its-looking-for-some-broughmance/
That is a ’87 or later dash, so it’s probably a 1987. I like it! Needs the hidden headlamps fixed, however.
As the owner of 04 TC, I love it, but why not a Club Cab with a V6? Price is right too. Be the only guy or gal at the recycling center.
I absolutely love this. For no particular reason… just love it.
It looks like this was the owner’s description from the 2015 Craigslist ad:
“I have a 1986 Ford Ranger custom pickup that was built for a SEMA show in the late 80’s. It’s an ’86 Ranger with a Lincoln front nose and tail section with Lincoln interior it was built by one hell of a car builder because it looks like it came from the factory; it was built in Illinois. My dad bought it years ago to drive in the parades in. Then he parked it in his shop with his other classic cars. I’m selling for $8500.00 or I will trade for another old classic car would love to have a large nice travel trailer hopefully with slide outs. Send me picture’s of your old classic or travel trailer. The truck has not ran in years but it will be running before it leaves my shop.“
The front is from a Mark IV but the rear is from a Mark VI. Interesting.
I believe that the rear is from a Mark V (1977-1979).
It’s a Mark VI.
Would this be the proto Blackwood? It’s definitely only Lincoln on the outside, since it has a manual transmission. It seems way overpriced to me
That’s definitely an 89-92 Ranger interior *BUT* the shifter indicates an 87 or older, uuuusually. Most 88+ trucks had a thicker, straight shift lever, although that transmission did make it’s way into some lower spec trucks after 87, so it could be an 89 2.0 carb’d base model, or had a transmission swap. Who knows! The inner door shell is different 89+ due to the speakers moving from the dash to the door. Externally the cabs look the same minus the front end sheet metal. The VIN and/or a peek under the hood would more closely nail down the true year model it was built onto. Hmmm will have to do some digging!
The back is attractive but the front is an abomination even if the headlights were functional. The hood needs to be longer otherwise it looks chunky. The big bumper does it no favors and they should have found a wrecked Mark III. Although it’s rough now, it apparently was a quality job though probably only meant to last for a year on the show circuit.
If nothing else, it’s interesting. Definitely be a conversation piece anywhere ya go. Looks like it was a LOT of work too.
Price isn’t “That Much” higher than what folks are asking for a decent condition “normal” Ranger. (Not that I agree with their pricing requests).
I wonder though, why start with a Little Ranger and not a full-size pickup? At least on a full-size truck the proportions wouldn’t be so.. off.
That said, I’m in the market for a small pickup, so IF the price was right, I’d drive it.
Knowing where the market eventually went, looking back there might have been an opportunity for a Lincoln utility vehicle in these years. Not a pickup, instead maybe something Bronco II-based. In the early 2000’s someone in the Lincoln studio created a rendering of a really cool looking black or dark blue 3-door SUV with a wide rear pillar with Lincoln star. Not full-sized, instead something smaller. The later Navicross concept ended up tamer.
What? No Cartier Clock? 😂
The author hit the nail on the head. It’s awful, yet strangely appealing? It (outside) seem well done in many ways even if it doesn’t all flow that well. From the front it seems too narrow. But it still works. And yet once you open the door, it seems as if this SEMA show car/truck was meant to be seen only from the outside. It would have been easy to give it nice leather with the Lincoln logo and a Lincoln steering wheel. And for the love of gawd, it should have been the V6 with auto and some power features.
Anyhow, what a fun little piece that would certainly garner attention and comments at shows.
The author hit the nail on the head. It’s awful, yet strangely appealing? It (outside) seems well done in many ways even if it doesn’t all flow that well. From the front it seems too narrow. But it still works. And yet once you open the door, it seems as if this SEMA show car/truck was meant to be seen only from the outside. It would have been easy to give it nice leather with the Lincoln logo and a Lincoln steering wheel. And for the love of gawd, it should have been the V6 with auto and some power features.
Anyhow, what a fun little piece that would certainly garner attention and comments at shows.
Assuming the AC nd everything else works $4,500 isn’t out of line .
I’m not sure I could live with it tho’ .
-Nate
Fair price for a rust free Gen 1 Ranger with that mileage and runs and drives.
I like it, it’s unique and it looks to have been done well. I like that you can drive with the tailgate down and not lose your taillights like the Durango. Would have been nice to at least have a Lincoln seats and dash. I wonder if the Fox Body Continental Mark VII dash could have been made to fit. And make up a leather shift boot.
In a way it reminds me of the 1960 F100, or maybe others. Because it’s a regular truck cab with a lot of extra styling on the front.
This truck bed deserves a toilet bowl permanently attached to its floor… and no instructions are needed to close the lid. Just a little more private than what is offered on the market .
I can’t think of any car I’ve wondered more as to whether it was worth the effort or not. It’s cool. I think. It’s also actually pretty ironic, especially if it’s just got a 2.3 four. At least the V6/auto combination would be a drivetrain that’s close to what a Lincoln would have. It was one heck of an effort though: if you said “80s Ranger reworked to look like a Mark V,” I would picture a horrible hack job. This was definitely done by someone who knew what they were doing. I do agree, the interior is a little disappointing. You’d think some Lincoln seats would drop in, but they are going to be bulky compared to what it came with. Or maybe they just ran out of energy. A dash swap would be nighmare; anything’s possible, but it would take just as much work as was obviously done with the body. So I could understand just leaving that as is. Ultimately, no part of me is saying “I’d buy that,” but it’s the perfect thing to do a little paint work on and bring out to cruise nights. There’s one near me (Burn the Point in Billings, MT) that usually has 500+ cars, and by the end you feel like you’ve seen every iteration of Detroit muscle you’d car to; it’s the quirky “what the heck is that?!” cars that you wait for. This definitely fits that bill!
I must say, that obviously custom-made third brake light and/or reflector between the tailgate and the licence plate dent in that reused Lincoln bumper is a nice touch.