When I stumbled upon a listing for a pair of Ford Rancheros I thought, hey maybe it’s a BOGO deal or a package arrangement. Nope, it’s a single listing advertising two similar cars but they’re still worthy of a review. Located in Winnetka, California, these Ford Ute twins are available, here on craigslist for $6,500 (’70) and $5,500 (’71).

While I generally prefer the similar era El Camino, Ford did a bang-up styling job on the ’70-’71 Ranchero and the underlying Torino/Fairlane. From ’72 forward? Not so much so but it’s the same for me with the ’73-’77 El Camino – not really interested. For both years, buyers had plenty of Ranchero options starting with the top drawer Squire (faux wood slathered), the performance flavored GT (both of our subject cars), Ranchero 500, and a stripper simply known as the Ranchero.  Sales were fair in both years, 21,640 in ’70 and 24,946 in ’71 but the GT count was light both years with 3,600 and 3,900 copies respectively.

Externally, both are a bit rough. Obviously, the paint is burned through and surface rust is present but rot-through is not evident in the included images. There are no included images of either cargo bed and one, or both photographed would be helpful. These are California cars as far as domicile goes but there is no back story or mention of where they have lived out their half-century lives. The one VIN that is included indicates a San Jose build so long-term California citizenship is a possibility. BTW, the ’71 does come with an uninstalled grille.

The ’70 example has a non-running 220 gross HP 302 CI V8, while the ’71, also a non-runner,  features a 351 CI “Cleveland” V8 that may have originally been a 285 gross HP version. It now looks modified with a Holley carburetor and an open-element air cleaner. Both cars are claimed to possess matching numbers engines and utilize automatic gearboxes.

Inside is a split decision with the ’70 outfitted with a standard bench seat while Mr. 1971 ups the game a bit with bucket seats sans center console. The ’70s bench seat looks to be in fair shape but the ’71s buckets have seen better days and will need reupholstering – black duct tape only goes so far. One neat feature of the ’71 is the horizontal band tachometer. Both subjects look like they are air-conditioned but the ’71 has a newer style, non-OEM compressor.

While either of these cars will need quite a bit of work, I can see possibilities with both. A deeper dive regarding overall integrity would be warranted. The total advertised tariff is $12K but I bet if one were to offer something reasonable for the pair, both could be had for less, as in a package deal, wouldn’t you agree?