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Little Monster Truck: 1987 Ford Ranger Bigfoot Cruiser

There’s no shortage of dealer add-ons and special editions (that aren’t really special) to sift through when looking at vehicles from the 80s and 90s. Occasionally, however, some of these dress-up kits actually created something fairly novel or unique, such as a special “Bigfoot” edition Ford Ranger. If you were a kid in the 80s, your toy box likely featured at least one diecast vehicle as a tribute to the iconic Bigfoot monster truck, so I’ll allow that anything with those two magical words is automatically cool. Check out this limited-offer Big Foot edition 1987 Ford Ranger pickup here on craigslist for a lousy $600.

Now, the irony is not lost on me that a small pickup with fairly modest wheels and tires has the words Bigfoot on the doors, but let’s move past that for a second. These special Ranger pickups came with some sweet options, most notably the big chrome roll bar mounted in the bed. Atop the roll bar were five Marchal fog lights, and the Ranger also came with running boards and an electric raised and lowered rear window. The graphics were also part of the dress-up kit, but the 2.9L V6 drivetrain remained unchanged. Amazingly, this example seems to retain all of the add-on equipment.

Now, that, I suppose, was a miss, as trucks with branding like this really deserve at least some mild hop-up parts under the hood. A free-flow exhaust, headers, or simply an upgraded air intake would all suffice as reasonably priced upgrades that make any special edition feel truly unique. I would have even accepted some suspension upgrades, especially given what the actual Bigfoot looked like, in the form of some beefier shocks and upgraded tires and wheels. No such luck with the Bigfoot ranger, which left the factory with its stock components untouched.

Now, $600 may seem like a great price even for a beater, but the undersides are downright crunchy. Factor in that this truck lives way up there in Maine, just shy of Bangor, and you begin to see the reasons for the price. Hard to get to, rust repair needed, and no attractive ROI on the other side to justify the labor involved in picking it up and restoring it. What does this truck become, then? An interesting hobby hauler that will eventually succumb to the tin worm? Or is someone out there a big enough Bigfoot fan to take on the tall task of bringing this limited-edition Ranger back to life? Thanks to Barn Finds reader AMXBrian for the find.

Comments

  1. Avatar photo TCOPPS Member

    The frame is rustier than the body. For some crazy reason I actually kind of like it. I wonder how many they made in this edition. I don’t think this one will end up being restored, but there’s a bit of a cult following of rangers so who knows. Personally I have an FX4 Level II (very rare) 4.0 w/5 speed as my daily winter truck, but I’m definitely not in love with it. Personally, I liked the F250 Bigfoot Edition much more.

    Like 8
  2. Avatar photo Troy s

    Mini trucks were all the rage in the eighties, slammed, lifted, or just plain affordable to drive work trucks.
    I’m surprised whomever bought this didn’t lift it and put the biggest wheels and tires the 2.9 could handle, the same day it rolled off the lot.

    Like 1
  3. Avatar photo AMXBrian

    At the end of the day it’s a Ranger, since the body looks decent, just swap the out the needed frame/suspension parts and continue on. There’s a reason why there’s still so many of these around in-spite of their fondness for rotting out. They’re reliable, fairly easy to work on, and people just like them.

    Like 3
  4. Avatar photo Car Nut Tacoma

    Assuming everything works like it should, and the frame is solid, that the rust is merely on the surface, I would imagine this would make for a good restoration project. All it needs would be some solid sheetmetal and a lots of paint.

    Like 1

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