Ford Ranger. Legendary Tough. Ford Ranger is a name used on two distinct compact pickup truck lines by the Ford Motor Company and by a marketing arrangement with Mazda.In North America the Ranger is Ford’s compact pickup truck. The Ranger replaced the Ford Courier an American version of the Mazda B-Series in a segment largely defined by the Toyota and Datsun pickup trucks. The Ranger was the best-selling compact pickup in America from 1987 to 2004.