favorable treatment for light trucks over cars by United States regulations skews the marketplace. Many Ranchero and El Camino owners, indeed, stopped buying new vehicles when those models were discontinued. Aftermarket conversions of the Fairmont Futura and Mercury Zephyr Z7 sport coupes to a Ranchero-like "Durango" pickup were sold in select Ford dealers in the early- to mid-1980s. Recently, interest in producing such vehicles again has grown, including those like the Subaru Baja, essentially an Outback station wagon with a stubby pickup bed instead of an enclosed cargo area. The Baja, like the Ranchero, is titled in most American states and Canadian provinces as a commercial vehicle. Until the late-2000s, the North American market tended to lean towards compact and midsized crew-cab four-door pickups such as the Ford Explorer Sport Trac and Chevrolet Colorado. However, with the compact pickups having grown towards midsized and encroaching on base models of more profitable full-sized pickups, some manufacturers such as Ford and Ram Trucks have discontinued even their compact and midsized offerings; Ford discontinued the American Ranger in 2012 and originally opted not to sell its global replacement in North America due to being too close in size and price to the base model Ford F-150, though did eventually introduce it for the 2019 model year. In Australia, Ford produced a right-hand drive car-based "pickup", with the FG X Falcon Ute available in style-side or tray-back form. Production of Falcon sedans and utilities ceased in Australia in 2016. References External links Dearborn Classics' Ranchero history page with photos The Ranchero Fan Club Ranchero Coupé utilities Vehicles introduced in 1957 Rear-wheel-drive vehicles Motor vehicles manufactured in the United States