In recent months, we’ve seen a couple of Blue Oval models modified and put to the test in some pretty harrowing events, including YouTuber Cleetus McFarland’s Ford Ranger based dirt track race dubbed the Danger Ranger 9000, as well as a Ford Super Duty off-road camper that, well, Donut Media wound up getting stuck in the desert. Now, that same auto-focused channel is back with more Blue Oval-themed shenanigans, this time, as it’s converting a $500 Ford Ranger it purchased into a proper desert racer.
As one might imagine, in today’s world, $500 doesn’t buy one much of a vehicle, and in this case, that’s also true, as this Ford Ranger is riddled with various flaws such as peeling paint and a pretty horrible smell inside the cabin, it seems. Regardless, Donut Media set out to test it in stock form to see how it performs, with the idea that they’ll sink a few thousand more dollars in it so they can go budget desert racing.
After spending a little time behind the wheel, the crew is already questioning their decision, noting that it takes some pretty special machines to cover 500 miles of desert in Mexico and actually survive those harrowing conditions – let along competing and actually winning races. The poor Ranger is well-used and abused with 250k miles on the clock, along with the 4.0L V6 that churned out a mere 160 horsepower when new – not exactly the ideal basis for a desert racing build.
Regardless, this Ford Ranger was otherwise headed to the crusher, so the team at Donut Media is actually saving it from extinction. They’re also impressed at just how reliable the compact pickup is, even though it has been abused in horrific fashion for many years. As one might imagine, that doesn’t exactly translate to excellent off-road performance – as we can see in the video – but it’ll certainly be interesting to follow this project as it transforms a beater into – hopefully – a competitive off-road racer.
We’ll have more wild videos like this to share soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for the latest Ford Ranger news and ongoing Ford news coverage.
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