Ford Courier

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

There are four distinct Ford vehicle lines which have used the Courier name:

1952-1958 American utility van
1991–2002 European van bronco
1998–present Brazilian pickup
1972-1982 American pickup and 1972–2006 Australian and New Zealand pick-up (rebadged Mazda B-Series)

In the United States, the Ford Courier was introduced in 1952 as a six- or eight-cylinder panel van based on a contemporary sedan. The line ran until 1958.

The European Courier is a small "high-cube" van based on the Ford Fiesta and produced from 1991 to 2002, when the sixth-generation Fiesta was announced. The eventual replacement for this and the Ford Escort van was the Ford Transit Connect (commercial version) and Ford Tourneo Connect (passenger version).

The name was also applied to a small pickup truck of similar layout produced by Ford in Brazil. It is based on the 1998 model of the Ford Fiesta. This model is also assembled in South Africa, where it is known as the Ford Bantam.

Its load capacity is 700 kg. The Mk IV 1.4 16v Zetec-SE has a top speed of 170 km/h and can accelerate from 0-100 km/h in 12s. The Mk V 1.6 8v Zetec-Rocam model has top speed of 180 km/h and can accelerate from 0-100 km/h in 10s.

In North America, Australia and New Zealand, the Courier was a compact pick-up built by Mazda which dated from the 1970s. It was discontinued in North America with the introduction of the Ford Ranger, though it continues in Australia and New Zealand as a badge-engineered version of the Mazda B-Series. It is currently built in Thailand.

Confusingly, the same Ford Courier is now called the Ford Ranger in every other market outside North America, and will include Australia and New Zealand as well by 2007. It is still unrelated to the American Ranger.

The U.S. built Ford Courier from 1952 to 1958 was marketed as a "sedan delivery" designated body code 78A, and was based on the contemporary sedan and station wagon designs. During the 1957 and 1958 model year, a windowed variant of the Courier was marketed for fleet orders and a number were produced primarily for Government services such as the U.S. Forest Service and Post Office. While from the outside these models looked like the series "59" tudor Ranch wagon, they retained their model code 78A.

From 1952 to 1956 access to the rear storage area was through a unique door hinged on the side. For 1957 and 1958, the rear access door was a combination of the lift gate and tailgate being connected with two connecting struts. This design meant that the rear door backglass had to be divided into three sections, two outer curved portions and a center piece.

In 1959 all Couriers took on the windowed body style very similar to the tudor Ranch Wagons and their model code was re-designated as 59E. The last year for the passenger car based Courier would be 1960 where it would remain a commercial wagon.

During this same period in Canada, this passenger car based van was marketed simply as the Sedan Delivery in both the Ford and Meteor lines from 1952 to 1958. For 1959 and 1960, they were sold as commercial wagons with the Meteor continuing the model up to the 1961 model year.