Ranger 1968-1978 - New mix as an alternative to Opel and GM
Summary
There were around 10,000 car brands and designers - most of them have disappeared. One of these vanished brands is Ranger. Founded in 1968, Ranger embodied a new mix: the bodies (two- and four-door saloons, three- and five-door estates and coupés) came from the Opel Rekord; they were given the front end of the Vauxhall Victor. Under the hood, the 2.1 and 2.5-liter engines from domestic Chevrolets were used. By 1978, it was already over when only Opel clones were built.
Estimated reading time: 3min
Preview (beginning of the article)
The Ranger brand was launched in the summer of 1968 by General Motors South Africa (Pty) Ltd. in Port Elizabeth. While the South African Chevrolets were designed in parallel to the Australian Holdens, the Rangers embodied a new mixture: the bodies (two- and four-door saloons, three- and five-door estate cars and coupés) were taken from the Opel Rekord; they were given the front end of the Vauxhall Victor. Under the hood, the 2.1 and 2.5-liter engines from domestic Chevrolets were used. With this recipe, General Motors Suisse SA in Biel also found a solution from February 1970 to help its Vauxhall dealer network gain new clout: In parallel with the successful Opel Rekord and Commodore, it assembled the Ranger 1900, 2500 and 2500 GTS, which were genuine Opels apart from the typical Vauxhall radiator face, the Ranger badges and some trim elements. However, Swiss production of the Ranger was discontinued at the end of 1971.
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