We know there is a Ford Ranger frenzy in anticipation of the new version coming to Ford’s product portfolio. But that is a year or so off. So, how do you explain this 2001 Ranger selling for $23,000? 

Who is to say whether a 2001 Ford Ranger is worth $23,000?

Look, we know about intrinsic value and all of that. But what does this 2001 Ranger have that makes it worth that kind of coin? That’s edging toward new-Ranger money. And if that wasn’t enough, there was a bidding war that resulted in the final price on Bring a Trailer. 

Did COVID cause people to lose their minds? The good news is that this is a fairly low mileage 2001 Ranger with only 23,000 miles. And the documentation supplied by the seller is way over the top. A paint thickness gauge was used to show the original paint. Seriously?

Is this why the Ford Ranger sold for this much?

Maybe that is why it sold for so much? With too much information and thickness gauges and temperature guns covering every minute detail, someone was convinced. Actually, two were convinced as that is how many bidders drove up the starting price past $20,000. 

The beige “greige” paint looks new and even a bit contemporary. Didn’t 20 million of these come in either white or greige? Not really. But Ford did make almost 275,000 of these in 2001. Ford was consistently building well over 200,000 Rangers a year up to 2004. So there are a few million blitzing around.

“Blows real cold” ain’t nothing next to this Ranger’s hype

And when an ad says the air conditioning “blows real cold” remember this post. From now on you have to ask for proof. You’ll need them to show you on a temp gauge as this dude has done. Or not.

As for the specs, this is your fairly stripped single cab, short bed intermediate pickup. It is powered by a 2.3-liter naturally aspirated banger. As somewhat of a stripper-a nicely appointed stripper, but a stripper nonetheless, it features a five-speed manual transmission. We like that. 

We love this Ford Ranger, but not the selling price

In fact, we like the whole deal. But not for $23,000. We’re not being judgemental, we’re just revealing our breaking point. Otherwise, we’d be lamenting not snagging this conversation piece ourselves. The selling price makes us not want to touch it with a 10-foot pole. 

No images of the inside of the bed make it impossible to determine its condition. But if it is as clean as the rest of the truck it would be impressive. Even with 23,000 miles on the ticker, a bed minus scratches and dents would be a sight. 

This pickup is the proverbial “creampuff”

The rest of the Ranger is clean and neat. This is your proverbial “creampuff.” An expensive creampuff. 

Now, with all of you owners of late-1990s to 2000s Rangers beat to hell, don’t get your hopes up after seeing this. Your heap is still probably worth a few hundred bucks at most. But look at what your Ranger might look like had you taken better care of it.