Ford Ranger wears pink for UK city

There's a theory that only men comfortable with their manliness can get away with wearing pink. Whether you buy that or not, Ford's tough little Ranger pickup is trading its plaid shirt image for the pink livery of Salford, UK.

The city just purchased a fleet of six pink Ranger 2.5 TDCi Regular Cab 4x2s fitted with tipper beds for their street-cleaning department.

Salford's Public Relations Officer Ian Andrew tells us, "Yes, magenta is our colour! We want our city to stand out and for people to recognise when the city council is providing them with services."

Situated about 200 miles north of London, Salford prides itself on having an eco-friendly image, with 60% green space, 30 miles of rivers and canals and 112 ponds and lakes. And that's why the six pink Rangers will be burning biodiesel for their five years of service.

"The Rangers are superb," said Salford City Council's Transport Manager Terry Dixie. "Our concern is with paper bulk, rather than weight. This provides an opportunity to reduce vehicle size. The Ranger is less expensive than a conventional 3.5-tonne tipper vehicle, provides superior fuel economy and its robust design promises a long life."

Read Ford's press release after the jump.

FORD RANGERS ARE IN THE PINK

BRENTWOOD, Essex, 26 April, 2007 – A fleet of tough Ford Ranger pick-ups has hit the streets of Salford, painted in a pink livery.

Salford City Council has acquired the pink Rangers, which feature one of the first tipper conversions to have been carried out on the new-generation model. The steel caged bodies have been fitted to six Ford Ranger 2.5 TDCi Regular Cab 4x2s. The vehicles are finished in the colours used for the Council's street-cleansing department.

Ford Rangers are preferred to bigger vehicles because they can negotiate any city street, even where weight or width restrictions apply. The conversion features a 2.3m tipper body, with single dropside, 2.5mm floor, heavy-duty ladder gantry and one-man-operated body-prop. The cage, built 30cm higher than the cab, uses 2.5cm galvanised mesh infill and has a nearside sliding access door and barn doors above the tailgate.

"The Rangers are superb," said Salford City Council's Transport Manager Terry Dixie. "Our concern is with paper bulk, rather than weight. This provides an opportunity to reduce vehicle size. The Ranger is less expensive than a conventional 3.5-tonne tipper vehicle, provides superior fuel economy and its robust design promises a long life.

In keeping with Salford City Council's eco-friendly policy, the Ranger tippers run on bio-diesel. The council also operates a number of Ford Transit Connects on general delivery duties.

Salford City Council's hard-working Ford Rangers will cover a surprisingly high mileage, and are expected to show more than 75,000 miles on the clock at the end of their five-year cycle. "We anticipate higher residuals with the Ranger than we would with a conventional tipper," adds Terry.