Custom Widebody 1972 Ford Ranchero Up For Auction

The Ford Ranchero existed in many forms over its long production run between 1957 and 1979, as many Blue Oval fans are well aware. Regardless, the Ranchero also enjoyed its fair share of success, as FoMoCo sold over a half-million of them during its existence. The part-car, part-truck was based on a variety of vehicles over those years, including the full-size Ford passenger car of the late ’50s, the Ford Falcon, Ford Fairlane, Ford Torino, and LTD II. However, we doubt that any of them look quite like this 1972 Ford Ranchero that just surfaced for sale.

This 1972 Ford Ranchero is currently up for auction at Bring a Trailer after the previous owner treated it to some heavy customization, starting on the outside. There, the owner removed the roof, chopped the windshield and rear windscreen, smoothed out the body, shaved the door handles, widened the front fenders and rear quarter panels, fender vents, and added a fixed tail panel.

The custom bodywork was then sprayed in Candy Red paint with pink pinstriping. The result is a pretty wild look that’s further accented by a set of retro Center Line alloy wheels.

The previous owner didn’t stop there, either, as we can clearly see when peeking inside via the open roof. There, one will find a smoothed-out dashboard, gray vinyl bucket seats, a revised center console and door panels, a Lokar shifter, locking storage compartments behind the seats, a Kenwood CD stereo, and Kicker speakers. On top of all that, the keyed ignition switch and headlight switch are hidden in the locking center compartment, too.

Power for this wild custom Ford Ranchero comes from the naturally-aspirated Ford 351 cubic-inch V8, which is dressed up a bit via a Ford Racing-branded air cleaner cover and valve covers, along with some mods including an aluminum intake manifold, headers, and a dual exhaust system. It’s mated to a three-speed automatic transmission, making for one of the wildest custom builds we’ve seen in quite some time.