The Ford Ranger just made its way back to America, but don’t forget it’s been around in other markets for the better part of a decade now. It’s been refreshed for duty here but it is, in fact, old. So it doesn’t surprise me at all that Ford’s working on an all-new one. Could it look this wild?
Behold, a nice scoop from Australia’s Wheels Magazine: What is reportedly a prototype of the next or updated Ranger, possibly for 2021 or 2022, seen testing in a Melbourne suburb recently. The current T6 Ranger is designed and engineered in Australia, though ours is actually built in Michigan.
Check out their Instagram below for the tailgate shot too.
We reached out to Ford to see if it was legit, or if any information could be provided about this thing, and we got the standard boilerplate: “No comment on future product.” Disappointing but not surprising.
What if it’s from another automaker? Wheels doesn’t think that’s likely:
If the mystery ute is from a competitor carmaker hellbent on muscling-in on the current Ranger’s worldwide success, its similarity to the just-unveiled full-sized 2020 Ford Super Duty F-250 sold Stateside is surely no coincidence. Check out how alike the C-shaped LED headlights, six-point grille garnish and square front foglight housings are, while the taillights and shape of the chrome back bumpers seem nearly identical. Even the spoked alloys are very similar.
It definitely continues the avant-garde, ultra-aggressive trend we’ve seen lately with truck grilles from GM, Ford and Ram. It’s definitely bolder than the current Ranger, too.
Car and Driver speculates this was actually a clay styling model instead, one of several designs Ford is considering. It could also be a real prototype with the photos shaded out to hide where it was discovered. Wheels hasn’t gotten back to us via email, and clearly Ford isn’t saying either.
Regardless, it’s fairly obvious the current Ranger is something of a stopgap—an aged but refreshed truck being sold here to fend off the Chevrolet Colorado until an all-new global Ranger is released that’s expected to share a platform with the new Ford Bronco. And if that’s the case, it could in fact be this thing.
Or it’s not! We don’t know yet. It looks cool and tough, like a truck should! I guess we’ll find out someday.