• Originally serving as a premium styling package for the F-Series pick up truck, the Ford Motor Company spun off the Ranger as a separate, compact pickup truck in 1983. The 1986 model year witnessed the introduction of a new engine and an additional, extended cab size called the SuperCab. The 1986 Ranger is part of the debut production cycle of the truck, which lasted until 1988.
  
  

Models and Engines

• Apart from cab size -- which consists of the aforementioned SuperCab and the smaller regular cab -- Ford designed the Ranger according to cargo bed size (short bed and long bed) and type of drive train (two-wheel drive and four-wheel drive). For the 1986 model year, Ford replaced the 2.8-liter 115-horsepower V-6 engine with a 2.9-liter version that pumped out 140 horsepower and 170 foot-pounds of torque. This particular engine went into the four-wheel drive trucks. Ford installed 2.3-liter 90-horsepower inline-four cylinder engines on the two-wheel drive versions. The base S model -- equipped with a regular-size bed and two-wheel drive -- had a two-liter 80-horsepower engine.
  
  

Transmission and Fuel Economy

• Ford made a four-speed automatic transmission with overdrive standard on all 1986 Ranger trucks except the S model, which received a five-speed manual gearbox. The fuel economy varied due to the engine and transmission differences. The S model was the most fuel efficient version of the 1986 Ranger at 22 mpg in the city and 26 mpg on the highway. The 2.3-liter engine equipped trucks got a fuel economy of 22 mpg in the city and 27 mpg on the highway, while the trucks with V-6 engines guzzled the most gas at 17 mpg in the city and 21 mpg on the highway.
  
  

Interior

• Each 1986 Ford Ranger provided seating for up to three passengers; the SuperCab accommodated twice that number of people. Interior spacing included 39 to 40 inches of headroom, 42 to 44 inches of legroom and 55 inches of shoulder room and hip room.
  
  

Exterior

• Designed as a two-door vehicle, the 1986 Ford Ranger had a width of 66.9 inches. Other measurements, however, varied from one model to the other. The SuperCab was the largest version of the truck, with a length of 192.7 inches, a height of 65.3 inches and a wheelbase of 125 inches. The truck's curb weight range was around 2,600 pounds to 3,300 pounds. The SuperCab four-wheel drive had 15-inch wheels and the Regular Cab Long Bed 4WD had 16-inch wheels; the other models drove on 14-inch wheels.