The Classic Ford Pickup You Didn't Realize Was Actually A Mazda Truck
Ford launched the Courier mini truck in 1972. It came after a 12-year hiatus, initially using the Courier name from 1952-1960 for the iconic Ford Delivery sedan. The Courier was the first compact pickup truck from a legacy American automaker. It prompted others to launch their respective contenders, while taking cues from Ford's original recipe of partnering with Japanese firms to reduce development and production costs.
The first-gen Ford Courier that appeared in dealerships for the '72 model year was a rebadged Mazda B-Series mini truck. In response, General Motors partnered with Isuzu to develop the Chevy LUV, while Chrysler and Mitsubishi joined forces for the Dodge D-50.
The Courier marked the beginning of a strategic alliance between Ford and Mazda. By 1979, Ford had acquired a 24.5% stake in Mazda, and the two automakers began a series of joint projects like the Ford Telstar and Probe (based on the Mazda 626 Capella platform), and Ford Laser and Escort (based on the Mazda 323 Familia architecture).
[Featured image by dave_7 via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC BY-SA 2.0]
The Ford-Mazda alliance
Mazda began selling cars in North America in 1971 with the RX-2 (the first-gen 626) and RX-3, powered by rotary engines. By 1973, the RX2 became the first Mazda to win a professional race in the United States, which marked the beginning of a long and storied racing history worldwide.
Mazda's penchant for the rotary engine led to the development of the REPU — the Rotary Engine Pick Up — which went on sale exclusively in North America from 1974-1977. Like the Ford Courier, the REPU rode on second-gen Mada B-Series underpinnings. It sold well in its first year, but Mazda pulled the plug after a short four-year production run due to the energy crisis.
Mazda's burgeoning financial difficulties during the oil crisis led Ford to increase its ownership of the Japanese automaker up to 33.4% by the mid-'90s. However, the 2007 economic crisis led Ford to sell its 20% stake in Mazda. By 2015, Ford sold all of its remaining shares in Mazda, which marked the end of a decades-long partnership between the two automakers.
As for the Ford Courier, North American sales ended in 1982 before the first-gen Ranger appeared for the 1983 model year. The Ranger's light-truck architecture was the backbone for other iconic Ford vehicles like the Bronco II, Explorer, and Aerostar van. Ironically, Mazda sold rebadged variants of the Ranger pickup and marketed them as the new B-Series midsize trucks from the early '90s to 2009.
[Featured image by Magnus Manske via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC BY-SA 3.0]