1994 Ford Ranger Article at Automotive.com

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Custom 1994 Ford Ranger Supercab

Below is an enthusiast article written by the automotive experts at Mini Truckin'. Check out this body dropped, hydro'd Ranger!

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IntelliChoice Value Rating

The chart above shows the purchase price versus ownership cost for each car from a specific vehicle class. The cars with better than average ownership cost/purchase price correlations are the best values, and these best value cars are represented by the dots below the curve. (i.e. the cars that have a lower ownership cost compared to its purchase price.) Those cars, which are worse than average or poor values, appear above the curve.

One way to view the graph is to draw a vertical line through any purchase price. You may see several dots that fall on this line - each of which is a car with a similar purchase price. However, notice the difference in ownership costs of each car represented by the vertical position of the dot. Two cars with the same purchase price can have thousands of dollars difference in ownership costs. This is what separates "good value" cars from "poor value" cars.

What is a good car value?

A "good car value" is one whose cost to own and operate is less than expected. The lower the cost to own and operate a car compared to what is expected, the better the value of that car.

But how do we know a car's "expected cost"?

For each car in the class, IntelliChoice plots the car's purchase price against the total five-year cost to own and operate it as determined by IntelliChoice research. Each dot on the above chart represents a specific car. Generally, we find that as the purchase price of the car increases, the cost to own and operate that car increases. This is why the dots on the graph tend to rise upward and to the right. This phenomenon also makes intuitive sense - as the purchase price rises, financing costs tend to rise, as do insurance, depreciation, taxes, and most other car ownership costs.

This is an important concept. It's normal for car ownership costs to rise as purchase price rises. Therefore, we can't just establish one "average" ownership cost number for each class, since cars in the class have different purchase prices. (This is why the "Relative" shown on each chart is different for cars in the same car class.)

Using statistical techniques, IntelliChoice "connects the dots" to form a curve that defines, for this car class, the relationship between the car's purchase price and car's ownership costs. This curve is our "expected cost" curve. The curve defines, for any car in the class, the five-year ownership cost that we would expect to see at each possible purchase price. If every car in the class were an average value, then all the dots would fall exactly on the curve. However, it's rare that any dot is exactly on the curve. Some dots are a little higher or lower, and some are a lot higher or lower. The dots that are a little lower are better than average car values, while the dots that are a lot lower are excellent car values (A dot that is a lot lower than the curve has ownership costs much lower than expected for a car of its purchase price). Conversely, a dot a little higher than the curve is a poorer than average car value, while a dot that is much higher than the curve is a poor car value.

Value is a relative term, not an absolute term. It is performing better than the logical expectation.

So is a Mercedes-Benz E320 expensive to own and operate? Certainly in an absolute sense. Most other cars cost less. But, when its cost to own and operate is plotted against cars with comparable invoice prices, the E320 costs less. So the E320 is not expensive to own and operate - it is a good car value. The Mercedes does not have low ownership costs, but it has low ownership costs for its invoice price.

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Article From Mini Truckin' Magazine

Custom 1994 Ford Ranger - Balancing Act

Simple, Custom, And Clean / By Lance Martz / photographer: Lance Martz
/ Article provided by: Mini Truckin' Magazine

Owner: Christopher Panucci
Ride: '94 Ford Ranger SuperCab
Hometown: South Park, Pennsylvania
Club Affiliation: SubCulture World Wyd

When Christopher Panucci decided to leave his Honda-building days behind him and build another truck, he went for a Ford Ranger that needed some TLC. He'd previously built an S-10 and had tried his hand at making a certain '92 Civic more custom, but this would be his first venture into customizing anything with a Blue Oval badge. While the journey of getting to where he's at today with his Ranger has been a learning process, he never strayed from his custom roots and turned this late-model Ranger into something showgoers can't help but stare at.

Christopher began making the Ranger custom by first modifying the suspension. We don't know all the various setups Christopher's truck must have had throughout the past three years, but these days, he rolls with hydraulics and uses accumulators to further smooth out the Ranger's ride. The truck was also body-dropped 4-1/4 inches to make it lay further than it could have with only an adjustable suspension. Since Jason Dewey's hands were also involved with the body drop, the added drop from the body slam was accomplished in no time, with excellent results.

Next, the body of the Ranger was massaged and changed to Christopher's exacting specifications. Once he had the basic idea of what he wanted in the custom-body-mod department, the first round of bodywork was completed by Volkerz Autobody. By the time his truck was to the point of being ready for graphics, though, he'd had another brainstorm or two and decided that a few more body mods had to be accomplished. Christopher then had even more done by Val's Paint Werkz. The truck was soon smoothed and custom enough to be rolled into the paint booth for a fresh coat of House of Kolor's bright Tangelo Pearl, the truck's basecoat color. After all the bodywork and paint duties were complete, the Ranger was smoother, brighter, and more appealing than ever. It even sported some simple yet effective graphics sprayed by Nick & Aaron in Murrysville, Pennsylvania, which give the truck more personality than a plain bright-orange base color.

The interior of the Ranger was addressed next by swapping out the original seats in favor of a pair of racing buckets by R1. These new seats were custom-upholstered, along with the door panels. The floor received new carpeting, making it all as fresh and new as possible. A new Clarion head unit, Clarion speakers, and a Sony PlayStation 2, which can be played using a 7-inch monitor, were installed. This setup is perfect for watching DVDs while awaiting judging at shows. Once the interior was complete, the whole truck received a massive detailing before Christopher began showing his truck at major events along the East Coast. Happily, Christopher has won at most of the major shows he's attended since getting his truck into shape and recently joined his new club, SubCulture, with the Ranger.

With his Ranger done (for now), we wonder what Christopher will change next. We know one thing is certain - true custom trucks are never finished. There's always something we'd like to do to take it to the next level. If the truck changes over the next few years, we'll step in and shoot it again. Then our readers will know who to look for when the Ranger next to them is kicking their chances for a trophy down the drain.

The Lowdown

Wheels/Tires 18x8-inch Boyd Coddington Spyder wheels / 225/40R18 Michelin Pilot radial tires

Suspension DJM Dream Beams / Top-Notch triangular four-link rear suspension setup / front and rear hydraulic suspension actuation / suspension work performed by Christopher Panucci and Jason Dewey

Body Modifications Shaved door handles / shaved door locks / shaved taillights / molded steel roll pan / shaved tailgate handle / shaved third brake light / shaved cowl panel / shaved emblems / shaved antenna hole / shaved fuel door / relocated fuel filler neck to bed interior / smoothed firewall / 4-1/4-inch body drop by Jason Dewey / Ford Ranger Splash front bumper and grille / Cervini's fiberglass hood / Lo-Pro fiberglass tonneau cover

Engine/Performance '99 2.5L Ford Ranger four-cylinder / cool-air intake / relocated Optima Yellow Top battery / Flowmaster muffler

Paint/Graphics House of Kolor's Tangelo Pearl base color / House of Kolor and PPG Burnt Orange, Olive, and Yellow graphic details / bodywork by Valkerz Autobody in Murrysville, Pennsylvania / graphics by Nick and Aaron in Murrysville, Pennsylvania

Interior/Stereo '99 Ranger dash / R1 racing bucket seats / reupholstered interior using Sherpa Gray and Black vinyl throughout / Clarion 715DUX head unit / Clarion 5-1/4-inch four-way speakers / Sony PlayStation 2 / Clarion 7-inch video screen

Miscellaneous Show wins include Slam Jam, Indy Import & Truck Bash, Carlisle All Truck Nationals / Best Paint and Best Truck trophies

Special Thanks Mr. and Mrs. Panucci for their love, support, and understanding / "Spiger Dulley" / Jason Dewey / Aaron from Picasso / Nick / Val's Paint Werkz / Volkerz Autobody / Jackie