I realized that I haven’t featured any Ford Ranchero’s here, so I set out to find something cool to share. The 1975 Ford Ranchero that you see here is owned and built by Mike Miller. It was once Mike’s daily driver and was used to haul drywall to worksites, then a well-used Pro Streeter that was sometimes drag-raced at California’s now defunct Carlsbad Raceway. The Ranchero eventually got a frame off restoration to become the vehicle you see here.
The frame was custom built to handle the horsepower along with the rear end and suspension. The original 400 CID V8 was replaced with a Ford based 640 CID Boss Hemi. The JBA-built Boss uses an aluminum block and heads from C&C Motorsports and makes 604 ci with parts from Crower, Manley, and JE. A Crower hydraulic roller camshaft, a Hogan custom sheetmetal intake with twin Holley 650-cfm carburetors, and an MSD Digital 7 ignition round out the details. With 10.8:1 compression, it makes 870 hp and 822 lb-ft on 91-octane, and that’s without the 250-shot of nitrous.
The engine is backed by a GM-based 4L80E transmission and 1981 Camaro independent front suspension. The rear is a custom IRS setup from Kugel Components. The engine was cast and machined at C&C Motorsports in Virginia.
The Kugel IRS uses a Currie 9-inch centersection with 4.56 gears and a Detroit Locker. Larger custom halfshafts were built after Mike Miller twisted the chrome off the original ‘shafts during the first test drive.
The bed has its tailgate welded and smoothed shut and houses the NOS bottles, wheeltubs, and fuel cell. The work is so nice, it almost looks like the bed was stamped out of a single sheet of steel.
The interior is just as nice as the exterior with leather seats, chrome steering column, and Classic Instruments gauges.
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