Ford Courier

Ford Courier
The most recent model in the Ford Courier series, developed by Ford Brazil and introduced in 1998
Overview
Manufacturer	Ford
Production	1952–1960 1971–2013
Chronology
Successor	Ford Transit Connect (Europe) Ford Ranger Ford Ranger (T6) (Europe and Brazil)

The Ford Courier name has been used on a variety of automobiles produced by Ford since 1952.

This was a sedan delivery based on Ford's 1956 sedan platform. Its model code was designated 78A. It had a front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout.

From 1952 to 1956, access to the rear storage area was through a unique door hinged on the side. For 1957 and 1958, the rear access door was a combination of the lift gate and tailgate being connected with two connecting struts. This design meant that the rear-door back glass had to be divided into three sections, two outer curved portions and a center piece. It was identical to the Ford Parklane and later the Ford Del Rio wagons without side glass installed.

In 1959, all Couriers took on the windowed body style very similar to the Tudor Ranch Wagons and their model code was redesignated as 59E. The last year for the passenger car-based Courier was 1960, when it would remain a commercial wagon.

In the early 1970s, the Ford Courier name was applied to a compact pickup, manufactured by Mazda called the Mazda B-Series. It had greater fuel economy than the full-size pickups of the time. The Courier was manufactured by Toyo Kogyo (Mazda), and imported and sold by Ford Motor Company as a response to the unforeseen popularity of the small Toyota and Nissan/Datsun pickups. It occupied the market segment previously held by the Ford Falcon-based Ranchero when that platform was upgraded to the larger Ford Fairlane in 1966.

Like the other mini-pickups of the time, it featured a sub-2-liter four-cylinder engine, a four-speed manual transmission, rear-wheel drive, an impressive load capability of 1,400 lb (635 kg) considering its size, and a fairly small price tag compared to full-size pickups of the time. To circumvent the 25% "chicken tax" on light trucks, Couriers (as with Chevrolet LUVs) were imported in "cab chassis" configurations, which included the entire light truck, less the cargo box or truck bed, and were only subject to a 4% tariff. Subsequently, a truck bed would be attached to the chassis and the vehicle could be sold as a light truck.