Ford Vehicle

You gotta love the ’50s: cheap gas, cool old round-top Coke machines and jukeboxes, and some of the best Fords ever were available new for just a few thousand bucks. One of those great ‘57 Fords was a new model called the Ranchero, a unique hybrid blending a heavy-duty station wagon chassis, and a passenger car cab and front end, with a cargo bed in the rear. Ford had been building F-1 pickup trucks since 1948, but those were conventional trucks.

This new Ranchero shared not only the handsome styling with the big Ford, but its engine options, too. Ford offered it in two models for ‘57: Model MSRP Production 66A Ranchero Custom $2,173 15,277 66B Base Ranchero $2,064 6,428 Model 66B was your basic rig, light on trim and goodies, while model 66A dressed things up a bit with more elaborate trim and color choices. Statistics show that buyers preferred their Rancheros with some gingerbread by a margin of over 2 to 1.

Don Lett, a retired electronics businessman from Dallas, likes his classic Fords with modern running gear. In the ’90s, he had Time Machines in Hudson, Florida, build an early Merc cruiser with Lincoln Mark VIII running gear.

The project was a big hit, so when Don decided to add a classic Ranchero to his fleet, he naturally turned back to Time Machines, which specializes in these types of advanced conversions and has displayed many finished projects at the internationally attended SEMA show in Las Vegas. Don’s plans called for a first-year Ranchero body, powered by Lincoln Mark VIII running gear, just like his earlier Merc, and some suspension updates to give the car an aggressive stance with an improved ride.