The American car show scene was red hot in the late 1960s, and Ford Motor Company answered the call with a nifty custom pickup for 1969, the Ranchero Scrambler.
As the youth and performance scene blossomed in the late ’60s, the car show circuit became an important marketing theater for the Motor City carmakers as they charged off in hot pursuit of younger, image-minded buyers. One eyeball-grabbing effort from the Ford Motor Company was the 1969 Ranchero Scrambler, and we think the look still holds up today, all things considered.
The Scrambler earned its name, we can safely presume, from the twin Rupp Scrambler minibikes stowed in the pickup bed—a feature that was guaranteed to catch the attention of teenagers on either side of legal driving age. Well played, Ford Motor Company. Based on a production Ford Ranchero, the Scrambler featured extensively customized sheet metal, with a tunneled rear window glass and a restyled front doghouse that was shared with another Ford show car that season, the Fairlane-based Super Cobra Sportsroof.
Under the familiar Shaker hood scoop was a 428 CID Cobra Jet V8, coupled to a C6 three-speed automatic transmission with its console-mounted shifter nestled between a pair of black vinyl bucket seats. Goodyear F60 Polyglas tires rode on Kelsey Hayes Magstar 15×7 wheels borrowed from the Shelby Mustang parts bin, dressed up with custom center caps wearing the Ranchero longhorn emblem.
After a debut at the 1969 Chicago Auto Show in March, the Scrambler was then displayed in the truck section at the Detroit Auto Show (below) and other venues throughout the year. What eventually became of the Scrambler is unknown to us, but at some point it reportedly wore a NASCAR-style King Cobra nose before it finally disappeared for good. Too bad. We think the Scrambler would make a tasty and distinctive street rod today—with or without the matching minibikes.
Heck yes, I would drive it.
That’s a sharp truck. My first impression on seeing the rear view was that this might be an AMC product. I guess it might have been the power of suggestion upon seeing the Scrambler name. Nice post.
I once owned a 70 Ranchero, the 428 would be a real squeeze! The 351C 4V alone was.
After opening the MMCG page and seeing the heading with the word Scrambler in it, my first thought upon viewing the rear view of this truck was that it was an AMC product. And, I actually do think it resembles an AMC product from this angle, even though it is clearly a Ford.