| The 1967 Ranchero was based on the Ford Fairlane platform. It was marketed with Thunderbird power. |
|
text ©2001 by Chris Watson
| The 1967 Ranchero was based on the Ford Fairlane platform. It was marketed with Thunderbird power. |
|
|
|
| I love this ad from 1968. Now the Ranchero is a luxury pickup, but not just ordinary luxury. Oh, no, we're talking “Long, low, lively luxury!” The Ranchero is “Not just new. But completely, excitingly, all-over new!” (italics in original). This is advertising lingo at its finest. |
|
|
|
The Ranchero is marketed as a second car from 1969-1972. The idea is if you get a second car, it should be able to do things your first car can't do. The ad on the left above is from 1969. It makes a suggestion. The two ads on the right are both from 1970. Notice how the second ad phrases the idea as a question while the third ad gives an order.
|
The 1971 ad on the left cleverly tells people that they are getting a second car anyway, so the Ranchero is their best choice. In the 1972 ad on the right, Ford apparently loses patience and makes it an order again: You WILL get a second car; we have ways of making you buy. |
|
|
In 1972 and again in 1973, the Ranchero was advertised as “the pickup car.” 1973 was the best-selling year for both the Ford Ranchero and the Chevrolet El Camino. |
|
|
In 1977 and 1978 the Ranchero was targeted to “the man in charge.” which actually means the man who likes to think of himself as being in charge. Who doesn't? |
|
|
|
| In 1979, the Ranchero's last year of production, an ad says “Comfort and Capacity.” That is what the Ranchero was all about from the very beginning, the comfort of a car with the capacity of a truck. We have come full-circle. |
|
