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2025 Ford Ranchero Gets Unofficially Resurrected With S650 Mustang DNA as a PHEV

While Ford's CEO Jim Farley just sided with Elon Musk's Tesla on Twitter in trying to figure out a faster adoption of EVs in North America, the rest of social media could not get enough of hearing how good the Coyote V8 engine sounds from under the hood of the 2024 Ford Mustang Dark Horse. So, strategies clash easier than ever. But what if that does not have to be the case - at least virtually?
2025 Ford Ranchero PHEV CGI reinvention by Digimods DESIGN 9 photos
Photo: Digimods DESIGN / YouTube
2025 Ford Ranchero PHEV CGI reinvention by Digimods DESIGN2025 Ford Ranchero PHEV CGI reinvention by Digimods DESIGN2025 Ford Ranchero PHEV CGI reinvention by Digimods DESIGN2025 Ford Ranchero PHEV CGI reinvention by Digimods DESIGN2025 Ford Ranchero PHEV CGI reinvention by Digimods DESIGN2025 Ford Ranchero PHEV CGI reinvention by Digimods DESIGN2025 Ford Ranchero PHEV CGI reinvention by Digimods DESIGN2025 Ford Ranchero PHEV CGI reinvention by Digimods DESIGN
Jim Farley has been very vocal about the EV strategy, recently also lamenting how the traditional horsepower wars have led to a novel type of battery-driven warfare where electric vehicles get turned into something as heavy and impractical as a tank because of the multitude of fatty cells in their packs. Naturally, he pointed at the competition – GMC Hummer EV, Chevy Colorado EV, and GMC Sierra EV, or the Ram 1500 REV. Not the Tesla Cybertruck, though, as they are now in sort of cahoots.

Remember, Ford and Tesla, not only speak about the need for better EV adoption but also put their money down – and a new partnership has resulted in Blue Ovals gaining access to the Tesla Supercharger network. But maybe they need more plug-in models to take advantage of that, not just the Ford Mustang Mach-E and Ford F-150 Lightning or Ford E-Transit, right? Well, if that is not possible right now in the real world, no worries; the imaginative realm of digital car content creators is always ready to oblige. Naturally, they also do it with sense and sensibility… sort of! And, knowing that the world is currently after anything with crossover, SUV, or truck allure, passenger cars get completely ignored, or at most, they get milked for some of their appealing DNA.

Such is the unofficial case here with Dimas Ramadhan, the virtual automotive artist behind the Digimods DESIGN channel on YouTube, who has taken up the task of revealing the all-new, reinvented Ranchero – in CGI. The nameplate is the epitome of North American coupe utility vehicles alongside its greatest rival, Chevy El Camino – and it was adapted from a two-door station wagon architecture with an integrated cab and cargo bed, unlike a traditional body-on-frame pickup truck.

Sadly, according to many fans, the nameplate introduced in 1957 went extinct in 1979, and nothing could resurrect it since. Well, Ford has a habit of bringing back cool models as of late – think of the reinvented Bronco or the best-selling Maverick unibody compact pickup truck. So, perhaps the Ranchero is next, albeit not as a Ute, according to the hypothetical depiction seen in the video embedded below. Instead, the CGI expert decided that a cross between the muscle car visage of the S650 Ford Mustang and a mid- or full-size pickup truck would be a lot better – though only when sprinkled with a plug-in hybrid powertrain to take advantage of the latest electrifying developments in the Ford strategy.

Alternatively, if we think about it, it could also work as a smaller, fully electric alternative for the Ford F-150 Lightning. So, which one would you choose if this thing were real?

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About the author: Aurel Niculescu
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Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution.
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