Fancy a hotted up Ranger ute?
Tickford, the blue oval’s former factory-backed answer to HSV, is back in business.
Prodrive Racing Australia
(PRA), the reigning V8 Supercar championship-winning team, is behind plans to revive the brand for a new range of performance Fords – starting with the Ranger ute.
Tickford is a new off-shoot of the company owned by racing veterans Rod Nash and Rusty French that will use the brand to sell its range of performance parts for a variety of Ford models, initially the Ranger and Mustang.
The new operation is set to be officially unveiled at the Bathurst 1000 in October with a prototype Ranger on display, and last week a Facebook page was created revealing the new Tickford logo.
Although PRA has already been a wholesale and retail provider of Ford Performance parts from the blue oval’s international operation, Tickford will also develop its own components inhouse.
‘‘We don’t just want to be a ‘me too’ business, we’re trying to develop our own packs, our own parts,’’ explained PRA CEO Tim Edwards.
He confirmed that Tickford will offer both performance and styling upgrades to the Ranger and Mustang initially but didn’t rule out other Ford models being included in the future.
The Ranger will be available with extra performance from its 3.2-litre five-cylinder turbo diesel engine, a unique suspension tune and bespoke alloy wheels with a focus on on-road performance instead of off-road capability.
‘‘Ranger is a fantastic vehicle and not everyone wants to turn it into a mud-spitting, winched-up vehicle. Some people out there just want to personalise it,’’ Edwards said.