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Concept Corner: dreaming up a retro Ford Ranger

16 October, 2015

 

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“Every month NZV8 ask their cover car owner for the concept that they’d most like to build, or see someone build”

 

Lyndon Hakopa had Matamata Panelworks build a very cool XW Ford Falcon ute, which we managed to feature on the cover of Issue No. 126. If you’ve read the article, you’ll know that Lyndon is a family man, and as such the ute is a bit tricky, being just a two-seater. So when we asked Lyndon for his concept, this is what he came up with.

“I love Ford Rangers; they’re just so handy — although they’re a bit high to put the dog or motorbikes on the back easily. They’re far easier around town than an F150. So a lowered Ranger would be pretty cool; but then again, you just can’t beat the look of the older stuff, like XWs. So my concept is to mix the character of old with the convenience and reliability of new.

Utes like my XW are great if you’ve only got one passenger, but when you need to take the whole family, you need a crew cab, so I’d graft an XW ute and wagon together to get a double cab. The tray would still need to be long to help fit stuff on, but to help with proportions it could be shortened a bit.

In an ideal world, the whole lot would be built over a Ranger chassis, so that you’d get the mod cons like ABS and good suspension, but, to get it sitting down low enough, the chassis would need to be notched in the rear and Z’d in the front. With a few other suspension changes, like lowering springs, it should be able to sit low enough, especially once the wheels were swapped out for the same style as on my XW.

Building it off a Ranger chassis, it would make sense to use a full Ranger as the donor  — that way you’d get the interior, also, which I’d graft in. I’d even go as far as to use the firewall out of the Ranger so there were no issues with the brake booster and steering-column fitting.

Of course, the Ranger motor wouldn’t cut it, so I’d drop in a Coyote motor, backed with an autobox, just to make it nice to drive around town. It’d be the perfect thing to chuck the kids in, dog or motorbike on the back, and head out of town.

As for the colour? The Matamata Panelworks team did a great job on the XW, so it’d make sense to paint this one the same.”

Sounds like a cool concept to us. Make sure to have your say on our Facebook page.

What are your thoughts on it? Post in the comments below.

You can get a print copy or a digital copy of NZV8 Issue No. 126, where the concept was first featured, below:

 




Buy a print copy of the magazine for NZ$10


Buy a digital copy of the magazine for NZ$6.99

Range Rover CSK — the original SUV

5 June, 2026

The Range Rover, thanks to Charles Spencer King, went into production in 1970 boasting an iconic shape that would last until 1996. The vehicle that would create the SUV moniker came about because Rover decided it was time to add a bigger four-wheel-drive vehicle, one with a 100-inch wheelbase, to the model range. Land Rover made a 109-inch wheelbase model but the standard vehicle had a 88-inch wheelbase.
The new model would be more suitable for road use than the existing Land Rover, which was considered to be predominantly for rural use. To make sure it could cope on any road it came standard with the Rover 3.5-litre V8 engine. The body design was originally sketched by King and went into production with only a few minor touch-ups by the Rover styling team.
According to King, “The idea was to combine the comfort and on-road ability of a Rover saloon with the off-road ability of a Land Rover. Nobody was doing it.”

Ford’s Mustang – the endlessly hip American dream machine

28 May, 2026

Fifty or so years ago, the only place in New Zealand to see a Ford Mustang was on the racetrack. In a local market severely constrained by a lack of new motor vehicles, the new North American Ford was a dreamy icon boosted by considerable motorsport success.
Import licences for cars were limited, and if Kiwis travelled abroad, the amount of currency they could take with them was restricted. What’s more, those funds could not be used to buy a car for importation back home. Yet it was OK to spend the money on heavy drinking at a London pub, Gucci shoes, sable fur coats, and excessive stays at the Hôtel Martinez at Cannes in France.
However, any rare Mustang that landed on our shores would not be destined to pose around Auckland’s then trendy Queen Street on a Friday night but would more likely be found in the care of well-known racing drivers on the starting grid at local motor racing tracks.