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The Ford Courier pickup today
 
 

 
The Ford Courier pickup, being a rebadged Mazda pickup, was still sold as a Ford Courier in Austrialia and New Zealand till 2007, when it was renamed the Ford Ranger. This Ford Ranger is not the same as the Ford Ranger sold in the US. Similarly, the Ford rangers sold in every other market outside of North America for the last 25 years are actually Mazda B-series pickups, not US ford rangers. And to further confuse matters, the B-series pickups now sold by Mazda in the US, are actually North American Ford Rangers, and bear little relation to Mazda pickups anywhere else. They do share some engines (the 4.0 liter V6 that is available in the Mazda trucks is the Ford engine), though the diesel engines from Mazda have never been available in the US rangers after 1984. One way to tell them apart is 6-lug vs 5 lug wheels – the Ford designed ones are all 5 lug, whereas the Mazda designed ones remain 6-lug to this day.
 
 
Just for fun, a quick comparison of specs of the 1972 Ford Courier, a US spec 2007 Ford Ranger, and 2007 Ford Courier (from New Zealand).

 
 
 
1972 Courier
2007 Ranger
2007 Courier (New Zealand)
 
Curb weight
2,515 lbs
3,028 lbs
2,860 lbs
Engine size
1.8 liter 4 cylinder OHC
2.3 liter 4 cylinder 16 valve OHC
2.5 liter 4 cylinder turbodiesel
HP
74 @ 5000rpm
143 @ 5,250rpm
110 @ 3,500rpm
Torque 
(ft lbs)
92 @ 3500rpm
154 @ 3,750rpm
200 @ 2,000rpm
Other engines
None
3.0 liter V6 or 4.0 liter V6
2.6 liter 4 cylinder gasoline, or 4.0 liter V6 gasoline
4x4 option
no
yes
yes
Transmission
4 speed manual
5 speed manual, 5 speed automatic, or 6 speed automatic
5 speed manual, 5 speed auto
Payload
1,400 lbs
1,260 lbs
3,146 lbs
Length
172”
188.5” (for shortbed regular cab)
197” (for regular cab, pickup bed)
Wheelbase
104”
111.6” for shortbed regular cab
118.5”
Width
63”
69.3”
66.7”
Other options
 
Supercab, and longbed versions
Supercab, crewcab, chassis versions

Look at the rated payload on the New Zealand Courier.Yikes. It sure must ride like a truck with springs that can hold that much. The new Ranger has gotten squishy springs – less capacity than the old Courier ;) It’s interesting that one of the specs given for the NZ version is the wading depth – of 29.4” The website also gave all the gear ratios for all the different transmissions and a lot of really technical stuff that’s hardly mentioned the US Ford website any more. Man, I want that turbodiesel engine, only 40 ftlbs less torque than the 4.0 liter V6, and at 1000rpm less.  And it's rated at 28mpg.
 

 
 

If you have any questions, or information to add to this, please email me at zyewdall at gmail dotcom.