HomePick of the DayPick of the Day: 1957 Ford Ranchero with resto-mod drivability

Pick of the Day: 1957 Ford Ranchero with resto-mod drivability

The handsome rendition looks vintage, but with modern performance components

-

“More than a car! More than a truck!”  That was how Ford advertised its car-based 1957 Ranchero pickup truck, the first of its kind since the 1930s and presented as the stylish solution for the gentleman farmer or rancher who wanted a working truck that was also nice enough for driving on date night or to church on Sunday.

Ford beat General Motors to the punch on this concept in the US; while Chevy had gussied up the basic pickup truck with the Cameo edition, competition against the Ranchero wouldn’t arrive until 1959 with the El Camino.

ford

The Pick of the Day is a 1957 Ford Ranchero that has been restored and updated with newer components for reliability and drivability, creating a most-attractive car/truck that’s ready to be used and enjoyed, and impressive enough for show.

So while it looks stock, the Ranchero is the epitome of the popular resto-mod configuration: vintage up top, modern underneath. 

ford

“This 1957 Ford Ranchero pickup has received some mild performance upgrades in recent years to bring performance and reliability to modern standards,” according to the Fairfield, California, dealer advertising the Ford on ClassicCars.com.  “You’ll find a 302 cid V8 engine under the hood with an AOD automatic transmission with overdrive, power front disc brakes, power steering, front and rear sway bars, 2″ Granada spindles, and many other upgrades to make this example a fantastic modern driver.”

Ford renewed the styling of its car lineup for 1957, a one-year look that was again redone for 1958, and many consider the ’57 cars to be the most-handsome Fords of that decade.  This Ranchero looks pretty sweet in red-and-white two-tone with a matching interior, factory trim and hubcaps, and wide whitewall tires.

“It shows excellent in person with near-perfect body lines, shimmering exterior paint and near-perfect chrome, trim and glass all the way around,” the seller says in the ad. “The interior is just as impressive throughout since this example has been maintained at the highest possible levels throughout its life. This is easily one of the highest-caliber examples we’ve come across this year.”

The asking price for this apparently nicely done Ford Ranchero resto-mod is $32,990.

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

Bob Golfen
Bob Golfen
Bob Golfen is a longtime automotive writer and editor, focusing on new vehicles, collector cars, car culture and the automotive lifestyle. He is the former automotive writer and editor for The Arizona Republic and SPEED.com, the website for the SPEED motorsports channel. He has written free-lance articles for a number of publications, including Autoweek, The New York Times and Barrett-Jackson auction catalogs. A collector car enthusiast with a wide range of knowledge about the old cars that we all love and desire, Bob enjoys tinkering with archaic machinery. His current obsession is a 1962 Porsche 356 Super coupe.

3 COMMENTS

  1. I think it would look better with a 57 Meteor grille. Yes the Fords were good looking, and outsold Chevrolet that year, also had much better heaters.
    The Australians had Ute car/trucks also, but not sure when they started production.

  2. We had one identical to this one in the color scheme, along with a matching Ranch Wagon two-door wagon, both of them 57’s. What great cars these were to own, while the 312 Thunderbird engines were very, very capable of outrunning most other cars of the time within their category.

    The only thing wrong that stands out to me, having had two in the fam, is the floor shifter naturally, but less obvious is the incorrect steering wheel center horn…this one appears to be from some other year, perhaps around 59.

    All in all though, a nice example of a resto-mod version.

  3. It’s just to bad that Ford didn’t have a a small block 302 instead of that famous Y-block after the flat head faded. This is certainly a better combination ! much lighter than the 332/390 engines, but they would drop in easy enough…

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Recent Posts

spot_img