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HomePick of the DayRanger off-roader has Ferrari heritage

Ranger off-roader has Ferrari heritage

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Torino-based Ferves took its name from a shortened version of Ferrari Veicoli Speciali, or Ferrari Special Vehicles, and from 1966-71 produced around 600 examples of its Ranger off-road vehicle. One of those, a 1968 Ferves Ranger, is the Pick of the Day. 

The chubby, clubby little off-roader is being offered in an advertisement on ClassicCars.com by a dealership in Oceanside, New York.

Windscreen folds down

The dealership’s description of the vehicle is sparse, noting the 500cc engine, 4-speed gearbox, 18,000 kilometers traveled to date, that the vehicle was designed by Carlo Ferrari and is for sale for $39,000.

The Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the Automobile devotes a single paragraph to Ferves, noting that the Ranger was introduced at the Turin auto show in 1966 and was “an attractive looking and extremely compact all-terrain vehicle” with a rear-mounted 18 horsepower Fiat 550 engine, independent suspension from the Fiat 500D and with all-wheel drive. 

The encyclopedia adds that the windscreen folded down and the doors could be “fixed in the open position.” The vehicle had four seats. Later, a cargo/pickup version was added and late examples had 5-speed transmissions and offered such options as 2-wheel drive and locking differentials.

The encyclopedia makes no mention of Carlo Ferrari. And while RM Sotheby’s catalog from its London sale in 2015 credits the Rangers design to Carlo Ferrari, it includes no mention of the designer’s possible relationship to Enzo and the sports car manufacturing family.

There’s a convertible roof

The 1973 Ferves Ranger sold in London had previously been owned by famed designer Phillippe Starck and brought slightly less than $37,400 at the auction.

The seller offering the ’68 Ranger through the ClassicCars.com advertisement asks $39,000. Photographs with the advertisement show the car open and with a convertible-style roof covering.

To view this listing on ClassicCars.com, see Pick of the Day.

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Larry Edsall
Larry Edsall
A former daily newspaper sports editor, Larry Edsall spent a dozen years as an editor at AutoWeek magazine before making the transition to writing for the web and becoming the author of more than 15 automotive books. In addition to being founding editor at ClassicCars.com, Larry has written for The New York Times and The Detroit News and was an adjunct honors professor at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.

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