Starting in 1972, Ford began selling Mazda Proceed pickup trucks with Courier badges in the United States. At the same time, Mazda was selling the same trucks here like B series. Then in 1983, the Ranger replaced the Courier, while the B Series remained available in North America until 1993. In 1994, the Mazda/Ford pickup world was turned upside down, and Mazda’s version of the Ranger took over the B Series name here. Today Junkyard gem is one of the early Mazda pickups produced by Ford, found in North Carolina car cemetery Lately.
The precedent for Mazda badging on U.S.-market Ford trucks began in the 1991 model year, when the recent Explorer went on sale as the Mazda Navajo. Many Mazda-sourced Ford and Mercury models were sold here during the 1990s, including the Ford Festiva, Ford Probe, Ford EscortMercury Tracer and Mercury Capri, so it made sense to deepen the relationship by moving some of Dearborn’s iron in a different direction.
Still, some in Hiroshima must have been saddened by the replacement of the proud B-Series with Ford products.
Four digits after B B Series model designations referred to engine displacement in cubic centimeters, with the 1971 B1600 starting this tradition. This truck is a B4000 and has a 4.0-liter version of the Cologne pushrod V6 engine. Power output was 160 horsepower and 225 lb-ft. The B2300 and B3000 were also available.
The Cologne V6 first appeared in recent cars sold in the United States in 1969 in the Capri, which was sold through Mercury dealers here but never received the Mercury badge. The SOHC version of Cologne 4.0 was fitted to various recent Fords sold in the US market until the early 2010s.
This truck is the most exorbitant rear-wheel drive Mazda B-Series available for the 1995 model year, with a long wheelbase, largest engine, top LE trim level, and extended cab Plus.
Its MSRP was $16,035, or approximately $33,322 in 2024 dollars.
It is in very good condition, has traveled over 100,000 km.
The last model year for Mazda’s Ranger-based B-Series pickup trucks in the United States was 2009.
“I think I’ve put through more grades of fertilizer than anyone in the country.”