The 2019 Ford Ranger Airdesign concept was poked way up high in a shipping container at the New York Auto Show and we grabbed photos of the truck. The Ranger appears to be the same White Airdesign truck that was on display at SEMA 2018 last October that Ford had offered photos of. The cool part about this truck is that many of the accessories you see on it are Ford licensed.
At some point, the accessories to turn a Ford Ranger into the Ford Ranger Airdesign will be available to sell to the public, but for now, there is no ETA or pricing details offered on the Ford Ranger Airdesign truck parts. What we do know is that the white truck started life as a 2019 Ranger Supercrew 4×4 XLT with a 5-foot box. The truck was fitted with the options one would want if off-roading was planned including 255/65/R17 black side wall all-terrain tires, an electronic locking differential, tray-style floor liners, and the trailer tow package.
The MSRP per the Monroney sticker Ford provided for the base truck is $37,255 with a bit over $2,000 of that price being options. The MSRP is very close to the average selling price that Ford bragged about recently. How much the Airdesign accessories would add to the MSRP is a mystery. The accessories fitted to the truck include BDS upper control arms, a 3-inch Fox leveling kit with off-road shocks, Fuel Ripper 20×9 satin black wheels, and 33-inch Nitto Ridge Grappler tires.
The key features of the Ford Ranger Airdesign truck are the licensed Ford accessories including door rocker moldings, a front bumper lower center bar with bumper flares, fender vents, hood scoop, rear cab spoiler, rear tailgate spoiler, and tailgate applique, all installed on the truck in the photos. A Ford Performance recovery point was installed and custom black and white Sherwin Williams paint was applied to the body. Inside the truck has a Ford Performance by WARN industries recovery kit, custom black leather seats with white thread, custom painted inserts, and tinted windows.
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I hate to sound like a 16-year old fanboy but Ford has so much potential to be so much greater than what it really is, it’s almost unfair to the rest of the automotive world. The problem is that they won’t just go ahead and pull the trigger and do what they should and could be doing. Ford is a company that could, and should, be a major thorn in the side of companies such as BMW, Mercedes Benz, Audi, Range Rover and Lexus because Ford has the ability and the hardware to do the same thing that these car companies do at a lower price range. Hyundai and Kia have done a remarkable job at re-branding themselves as entry level luxury cars that not only boast luxury but boast excitement as well. Kia has gone straight for the Mustang GT’s jugular with the Stinger GT (hatchback sedan with 365hp from a 3.3L Twin turbo) and Hyundai initially launched the Genesis coupe as a direct competitor to not only the V6 Mustang and Camaro, but to the 4-cyl turbo variants as well. I know Ford is doing it’s best to cash in on the SUV trend but there is a lot more that Ford should be doing even just on the Ford level.
Now I strongly believe that Ford should do what it can to capitalize on the SUV market, along with the hybrid and electric market. It would be absolutely stupid for them not to have their fingers on the pulse of the automotive world. However, I believe that Ford needs to do a few things differently with it’s lineup outside of where it’s going.
Starting with the largest SUV Ford makes, the Expedition. In my humble opinion, the Ford Expedition is the most beautiful SUV Ford has ever made to date (that includes the Navigator) That beauty, falls hard after you leave the front end and you’re left with this big boring box that sits awkwardly high lending to unsure footing in certain settings. flaring the fenders and offering a more hunkered down magnetic ride suspension along with other chassis upgrades, large brakes (by Brembo with silver calipers) with a roof line that rakes down towards the front with a lift gate spoiler on the back of the SUV would lend to a more visually appealing SUV, while obviously this would not be a sport trim SUV as that vehicle would need to be hunkered down even more with more aggressive body work, styling, etc. the basic setup would add a bit more safety and assurance to the large SUV. a redesign of the tail lamps would be a welcome upgrade
As a street SUV, the new CD6 Platform Ford Explorer would sit below the Expedition in size. The Explorer would be one of the vehicles to receive Ford Performance packages such as the currently offered ST, along with an RS package and a GT package of the SUV, all with performance Ecoboost power trains. A Hybrid powertrain should also be available.
The Mustang Inspired Ford Maverick Crossover would be the hot performance vehicle in the Ford Lineup offering Electric, Electric Performance, Gasoline and Gasoline Performance powertrain as well as a hybrid and hybrid performance powertrain.
Similarly sized to the Maverick, the Ford Everest would be smaller that the explorer but larger than the escape and be more geared towards a family hauler with an off Road FX4 package. Powered by nothing larger than a 2.3L Ecoboost engine, the small cross over would fit nicely into the global Ford Lineup.
Escape: Replacing the dearly departed Ford Focus, The new car-like Ford Escape will have big-small shoes to fill. Not only will the Escape need to have the room to be a small SUV/Crossover, it will also needs to fill the void of the Focus RS and the Focus ST. The escape will also need a fully electric version as well
EVOS; Fully electric and fully cool, the EVOS should be an electric crossover that has it all. Blistering performance models, a plethora of Ford Accessories, and enough tech, soul, comfort and reliability to make Tesla envious. This vehicle should be able to out-accelerate, out brake, out performance, and outlast the Tesla Model S P100D sedan. The car should have a unique sound to it, not annoying, but it shouldn’t sound like a motorized shopping scooter either. As I’ve done more research on this, I’ve discovered Audi has come up with their E-Sound system for their electric vehicles. My suggestion would be for Ford to do something similar to create an organic atmosphere for their electric cars with Both the EVOS and the above mentioned Ford Maverick Electric performance SUV.
Ecosport: While I’m not sure where the sport is when it comes to this diminutive, mundane, lackluster and bare basic means of transport that sits barely above the status of a BMW Isetta or smart car with all of the testicular fortitude of a Pink Prius with my little pony decals, I could see this vehicle adopting the new 3-cylinder ecoboost engine along with a hybrid 3-cylinder and a pure electric powertrain. By no means a performance vehicle, 14″ steel wheels with optional 15″ steel wheels, specific low rolling resistance tires, an all-wheel drive power train no matter what engine is under the hood, an airy and open occupant cabin with large windows and thin pillars for improved visibility, a very basic cabin and dash layout, push button start, digital instrument cluster, digital infotainment display, digital gear selector, glass roof option, sunroof option, 5-speaker stereo system including the dash speaker, heated and cooled seats, heated and cooled steering wheel, heated mirrors, heated windshield, heated roof glass (if optioned with glass roof, and heated door glass with an optional high-output auxiliary cabin heater for faster warm ups on cold winter days. The Ecosport should be more of an urban utility vehicle designed to deal with the small city streets, tight parking and all of the other aspects of city living all while having adequate size for college students along with being reliable and affordable.
Bronco: As I understand, the Bronco will be based on the upcoming Ranger platform, which is slated to be a little larger and a little more robust than the current one, but still smaller than the F 150. I’m gaining more hope that this Bronco will truly be a success as it will have very retro styling but still be modern like it should be.
Bronco Scout: A vehicle that is simple enough to enjoy the sands of the beach, the mud of a weekend of light hiking and camping yet still rugged enough to tackle a wintry morning commute, spacious enough for a trip to the grocery store and still have enough manners and safety to secure the sleeping 1&2-year old children in the back seat along with Buzz Lightyear and Malibu Barbie. Fuel sipping, responsive power trains, loaded with technology and safety features, modern-retro styling all in a vehicle that’s cool enough for mom and dad and even the college student who wants a little more than what an Escape can offer. The Bronco Scout should have it all.
F150: The bread and butter of Ford. New engines, improved styling, hybrid and electric options, a performance street truck, the retirement of the raptor and a new off road variant that is more geared towards trails, hunting, fishing and camping and not Baja dune jumping would be nice. Honestly, i think the Limited and the Platinum versions should be the ones to get the new independent rear suspension with the hybrid and the electric options and the street performance version should get V8 engines and Independent rear suspensions with magnetic ride, Brembo brakes, etc.
Ranger: As I mentioned above about the upcoming chassis, it should be a little more robust than the current one, although i like the current ranger’s styling, I do feel it should borrow more styling cues from it’s big brother, the F150 both inside and out. I would like to see a true off-roading version of this truck along with a sporty street performance truck and a limited model.
Falcon: Although I agree with Ford for axing most of their car lineup, I don’t think the company should move away from sedans. Competing with the BMW 5-Series, the Mercedes E-Class, the Lexus GS-sedan and the Audi 6-series, A CD6 platform RWD based sedan should enter the scene with performance engines to match up to M, AMG, F & S categories of their German and Asian rivals.
Mustang: I can’t stress how overly excited I am for the Mustang to be reborn on the larger CD6 platform. People are overly upset about this, however I see the car growing to the size of the BMW M850i coupe, which isn’t a bad thing at all. What Ford could do with the Mustang that would make it even better once it gets to this new chassis is offer new trim levels such as the Sport-Hybrid, ST, RS, GT, Cobra, Grande (Luxury AWD) and King Cobra
Cool cars aren’t complete without cool engines. Electric engines should have a voice and depending on the type of electric vehicle it is should determine the voice. As I said. Performance electric vehicles should sound like a performance car. They need to be organic and seamless and not fake. The more pedestrian variants should have enough sound to let pedestrians know the vehicle is there but they don’t need to project their voice like a performance vehicle would. They can have that synthetic and lifeless feel and be void of all emotional attachment because that is their purpose. As far as the more pedestrian gasoline engines are concerned, Ford is expanding its knowledge with hybrid engines and pretty soon, a 1.0L Hybrid Ecoboost engine would have as much as 230hp with enough torque from it’s electric motor to make it safe for highway use. While having incredible fuel economy to go along with that. As far as performance goes, Ford has gained extensive knowledge, not only with their ecoboost program, but with modular V8 engines that fall under the Coyote, Voodoo and Predator code names. While I feel that these engines will live on in one way or another. I think it’s time Ford Combines all of this knowledge into smaller engines. An Ecoboost 4.3L V8 and an Ecoboost 4.7L V8 should be added to the mix, while the 3.5L Ecoboost lives on along with a revised 3.0L Ecoboost and an upgraded 2.3L Ecoboost. At the top of this pile should be a supercharged 5.0L V8 engine and here is how this could all play out. The Supercharged 5.0L King Cobra Mustang would come out to roughly 650hp, which is more than enough for any car. The Ecoboost 4.7L (or 289ci V8) would come in around 530hp and pay homage to the rare, but available, twin supercharged Shelby GT350 of 1967 and wear the Moniker of the Mustang Cobra, Below that, the 495hp Mustang GT would receive the twin turbo 4.3L (aka 260ci V8) which pays homage to the first V8 ever put in a mustang. Below this, the 3.5L 450hp V6 Twin turbo would power the Mustang RS, the highest horsepower V6 performance offering in the Mustang with a Mach 1 performance package that would offer specific suspension upgrades, braking upgrades, visual upgrades, etc. The Grande would be the Luxury version of the mustang, powered by a 415hp 3.0L Twin turbo inline-6, while the ST mustang would receive a cross plane crank version of the 2.3L turbo 4-cylinder with a rating of 385hp and 405lb-ft of torque. a 2.0L Sport Hybrid would have a 300hp rating will torque numbers would climb to roughly 375lb-ft. The Falcon, the Explorer, and the Maverick would share these engines, although not every vehicle would receive all of these engine options. Vehicles such as the Bronco, the Ranger, the Expedition and the F150 would receive a few different variants of engines. While he Bronco and the Ranger should have a 2.7L Ecoboost V6 and the 3.0L Powerstroke Diesel, the F150 and Expedition should go back to pushrod V8 engines along with ecoboost V6 engines and Inline-6 cylinder turbo diesel engines. With Ford Bringing back the Pushrod V8 with the 7.3L Diesel, I see no reason a 6.4 (390ci) V8 and a 7.0L (427ci) V8 couldn’t be used in the new Ford F150 pickups along with a smaller 5.8L (351ci) V8. With Modern Technology, I see no reason why a 420hp 5.8L, a 485hp 6.4L and a 530hp 7.0L V8 wouldn’t be able to propel these trucks with the same efficiency (if not more) than either the GM or Mopar trucks. While this may “odd man out” the 7.3L in the Super Duty trucks as these engines will likely have more horsepower and torque than the 7.3L V8 SD, keep in mind anything mentioned above larger than the 5.8L will be built for performance such as a Lightning or an off road truck (not a raptor as I feel that the raptor should retire from the F150 just like the Shelby cars should retire from the Mustang). Also, with more forced induction cars, Ford Performance should not only expand their partnership with Mountune, but other companies such as HKS, Greddy, Tanabe, AWE, Whiteline Performance, etc, while incorporating Roush Performance further into the Ford Performance fold. Not only does this allow for a wider range of factory optioned performance upgrades, it also further integrates Ford and Ford Performance into the markets of China and Japan since those companies are big names in the Japanese tuner market where turbocharged performance has been the mainstay of their car culture for the last 30 years or so. Same as it has in Europe. The goal for ford should be to expand its market by sheer volume, not individual sale price however. Ford should be able to do all of this while still dropping anywhere from $4,000-$10,000.00 off it’s vehicles (depending on the vehicle and model trim level) and still be profitably and comfortably in the black guaranteed with the lineup I mentioned above. Why? Because the lineup above brought Ford down to 3-chassis models, got rid of nearly all front wheel drive vehicles, used mostly variants of engines already in production use and would be sold globally in all major markets around the world. This gets rid of non-profitable vehicles, some of the more problematic powertrain (usually associated with FWD based vehicles) and offers a range of more desirable vehicles that offer features that people want with prices they can afford. As I said before this does not include the Lincoln lineup of vehicles, which should be priced more on the level of Mercedes Benz, BMW, Audi, Range Rover and Lexus and also be able to performance to nearly the same levels, if not a little better. While I do not feel that Ford should chase every niche and market, I do feel as though there are certain markets that Ford should have it’s hand in and the ones I mentioned above would allow ford to compete and profit in without a major risk of loss.