I drive a B2300 (the Mazda rebrand of the Ranger) and it kicks ass. I get 7-8L per 100km, when commuting, I've filled it to the tits with dirt, flooring and lumber, and it doesn't take up 2 parking spaces. I would pay an obscene amount to get the same truck but as an EV today. Why the fuck is that not a thing?!?

I remember the Ranger it was barely bigger than a minivan.

I own a Ranger and used to own a Ford Aerostar. I'm pretty sure they were literally built on the same platform. Also, my Ranger is a regular cab short bed, while my Aerostar was the long wheelbase version, so the van was definitely bigger.

I probably don’t represent most people very well. But my wife and I have a single vehicle, a gmc sierra 1500. We probably use the bed twice a week. Trash/recycling. Moving heavy things around our property. Makes for a great mobile workbench for projects outside. And most often of all, we buy hay and grain for horses. A smaller truck would be a problem for us. We would actually benefit from a larger truck! But I don’t want a bigger gas guzzler. We get great fuel efficiency given the size of the truck.

Edit: I also don’t live in a city. It’s quite rural here

I do appreciate Ford has the Maverick now as well.

I used to have a ~'99 ranger. Loved that thing. Now the closest thing Ford has is the maverick which is not only bigger overall but it has a smaller bed so it's less useful.

I would love an old Ranger with the extended cab and suicide doors....I hate the new ones are f150 sized. Also the Tacoma structurally is no larger than the original tiny version...it's all puffy body panels. Why can't we ha have small trucks?

Pretty arrogant to claim people that own them don't need them. I know welders that do on site welding and have heavy welding equipment mounted in the back.

You also wouldn't want to have a civic flying down a steep hill behind you towing a 6,000lb travel trailer.

Edit:

Today I learned a bunch of people like to drive slow behind a rolling death trap that is a civic with a 6K lb trailer. Cool.

My first car was a '92 Ranger and it was a great little thing to have at that point in my life. It's really nice to be able to move without needing to worry about how to transport all your stuff to the new place and it was small enough that it still felt like a regular sized car.

The new rangers are pretty ridiculous in comparison.

The spa-burban is a truck.

Is it a 6000lb monster on a truck frame and enjoying the worse/looser safety regs? Then Truck.

Most are on a literal "truck" frame. Silverado/suburban for example.

They are part of the problem too.

They're also literally a truck with a roof over the bed.

In the US, SUVs are considered "Light trucks" and the same regulations apply to them.

Satiates societally ingrained Petro-Masculinity for patriarchal men who are insecure about their status as a man in the modern age.