OK, no muscle car V8 here, no four-speed manual gearbox either – if you’re looking for that stuff, you won’t find it in this post. Last week, a commenter bemoaned all of the Barn Finds exposure to high horsepower-equipped vehicles. Other commenters countered that six-cylinder rides make appearances here on BF, and today, a 1965 Ford Ranchero, so outfitted, is on deck. This clean, uncluttered, and compact Ute presents very nicely and harkens back to a time when cars were so much simpler than they are today. Found in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, this half car/half truck is available, here on craigslist for $12,500.

While Ford’s Ranchero beat Chevrolet’s El Camino to market by two years, it also made the down-sizing switch four years before Chevy returned the Camino to market. Ford had a bit of a Goldilocks thing going on where the ’57-’59 Ranchero was too large, the ’60 to ’65 was too small and the ’66 forward, built on an intermediate platform, was just right. Still, this compact Ranchero provides plenty of functionality with its six-foot-long cargo bed and 800 lb. carrying capacity – and 19K buyers thought so too in ’65.

The two-tone finish on this truck looks great! I doubt that it’s original but that’s immaterial. My guess is that this is a standard Ranchero, not a DeLuxe trim level and I base that assumption on the placement of the Ranchero fender badge. The stainless trim trim appears to be homegrown as it stops in the middle of the front fender’s lower cove character line. It’s not right but certainly makes for a presentable visual. The upper quarter panels are wearing add-on grab rails – not the most balanced-looking items to include but certainly functional for securing a cargo load. Speaking of cargo, the floor of the bed shows as being quite sound.

Under the hood is the previously mentioned six-cylinder powerplant. It could be either a 105 gross HP, 170 CI in-liner or the more robust 120 HP 200 CI job – the listing is silent on that matter and I can’t detect any visual clues. A Cruise-O-Matic automatic transmission makes the rear wheel connection. The mileage is listed as 93K miles, whether that is an authentic reading, and the engine has experienced that much use, is not said.

Inside is a two-tone, blue vinyl bench seat that looks to be in fine nick – at least what can be seen, the image isn’t that forthcoming. The dash and simplistic instrument panel, austere as they are, show well. Of note, this Ranchero is A/C equipped with the unit attached directly below the dash – it appears to be the original Ford component.

No tire-peeling, engine-roaring hot rot going on here, just a very nice, clean, uncomplicated, and functional truck – buy it, drive it, use it, and enjoy it, right?