Ford called the ’68 Ranchero “America’s most luxurious pickup.” We don’t know about that, but it was the most luxurious Ranchero to date.

For 1968, when Ford’s midsized Fairlane was repackaged as the Fairlane/Torino, the Ranchero pickup tagged along, boasting the same styling and features. The result was a longer, wider look for the car/pickup hybrid, and in fact, this was the biggest Ranchero since 1959, its final year on the Ford big-car platform. This new Ranchero looked grown up compared to the previous Falcon-based vehicles, with a wide grille and horizontal quad headlamps that accentuated the presentation.

In their trim levels and standard equipment, the three available models—Ranchero, Ranchero 500, and Ranchero GT—mirrored the Fairlane, Fairlane 500, and Torino GT of the passenger car line, respectively. Except for the lack of a rear seat, the interior of the fancy Ranchero GT was virtually identical to the Torino GT’s cabin, with soft vinyl upholstery, bucket seats, and an available console. Outside, the Ranchero GT sported styled steel wheels with trim rings and the same C-stripe graphic scheme as the Torino GT.

Available engines included a 200 CID six, a 302 CID V8 that was standard on the GT, and two 390 CID V8s. With a two-barrel carb and 9.5:1 compression ratio to tolerate regular gasoline, the 390 produced 265 hp, while the four-barrel, high-compression version was rated at 335 hp. On April 1, 1968, the game-changing 428 Cobra Jet V8 became available, but how many Rancheros in ’68 were so equipped is unclear (to us, anyway).

Ford modestly described the ’68 Ranchero as “America’s most luxurious pickup,” but in all honesty, the rival Chevrolet El Camino was squarely in the same league. Both car/truck hybrids were considerably more civilized than the conventional light trucks of the time. The fully equipped luxury pickups so familiar to us today were still a few decades in the future. For 1969, the Ranchero was continued with a few minor changes. only to be completely redesigned once again in 1970.