The Ford Ranger Thunder

A special edition Ford Ranger, called Thunder, is about to storm into Britain. Priced at £17,150, it comes with moody black and silver paintwork, spot lamps and Thunder decals. It is also the first Ford Ranger to have a full leather interior.

Based on the Ranger XLT, only 750 Ranger Thunder models will go on sale from September 1st. They will have unique black and silver paintwork, not normally available on the Ford pick-up range, complemented by a charcoal grey leather interior. The spot lamps in the imposing front bumper add to the sophisticated look.

"The pick-up market in Britain is changing and customers are looking for style and quality as well as functionality. That's why we've created Thunder. It's a style statement for successful business people with a 'go anywhere, do anything' lifestyle," said Gary Whittam, commercial vehicles director, Ford of Britain.

All Ford Rangers are powered by Ford's acclaimed Duratorq WLT 2.5-litre, 12-valve turbo diesel engine that produces 109 PS at 3500 rpm and a robust 226 Nm at 2000rpm. Load box dimensions for Ranger Thunder are best-in-class. This means that dirty, wet or cumbersome loads can be kept separate from the passenger cabin, preserving the car-like appearance of the cab interior.

The gross payload of Ranger Thunder is highly competitive at 1,180kg. It also has a great towing capacity of 2,800 kg.

Ranger is at home on road, but really comes into its own off-road. Ranger is engineered to tackle a wide variety of difficult terrain. In unladen four-wheel drive form, it can cope with gradients with an angle of approach up to 35o and a departure angle up to 28o, and it has a ‘ramp break-over’ angle of 24o. Maximum river fording depth for Ranger Thunder is 450 mm.