An Iconic Ranger Gets Some Updates… And a New Owner

Let’s start this story off with a little tale from the distant past. When Jim McNiel purchased the dilapidated Bob Hirohata Merc off a used car lot in 1959, he had no idea that the beat-up ’51 car he bought was once world famous and had graced the pages of pretty much every custom car magazine in existence just a few years prior. You might think, “How could anyone not know about the Hirohata Merc?”, and we’d be right there with you. It almost sounds unbelievable. Yet, it wasn’t until he heard from others who recognized the car that he discovered what he had. 

Then there’s Brett Hunsaker. This foo… uh, fine young gentleman was on the hunt for a custom truck to make up for some lost time after being out of the mini-truck scene for a few years.

It almost sounds unbelievable. Yet, it wasn’t until he heard from others who recognized the car that he discovered what he had.

“I was looking for a mini-truck, but didn’t want a project,” Brett says. “Since I already had a future project in the works, I was wanting a truck that was nearly finished.”

And so he began checking out all of the custom minis that were for sale at the time, eventually narrowing his search.

“I got my list down to about five or so trucks in the scene that I would like to buy,” Brett says. “I was getting ready to start making calls to the owners, and even started looking into importing one from overseas.”

Yeah, he was that serious.

In case you’re wondering, none of those trucks on the list were Ford Rangers. So how did he end up with this one—considered by many to be the Ford Ranger to own? You know, the best damned Ranger in the country—nay, the world! Let’s give the mic back to Brett for a second:

“As I was looking, a friend of mine, Josh Robinson, told me that I should go look at this Ranger [that was for sale],” he says. “I told him I wasn’t really a Ranger guy, and that I like Toyota Tacomas and 4-Runners more. However, he convinced me to take a look at the ‘Stranger.’ At this time, I had been away from the mini-truck scene for quite a while and didn’t know anything about this truck—which is embarrassing, I know.”

YES IT IS, BRETT—YES, IT IS! How did you not…? OK, let’s calm down a bit and let him get back to his story.

“Then he told me the original owner of the truck, Pascal Barone, was in my car club and that if I talked to him, he may sell it to me,” Brett says. “So after I looked at all the pics I could find, I was amazed. I instantly got a hold of Pascal and we talked. At Christmastime of 2022, I flew to Louisiana, made a deal with him, and transported the truck back to Vegas.”

OK, Brett, he was in your club (Relaxed Atmosphere, for anyone wondering), and you still didn’t know about it? What the frick!

Buying an iconic truck can be pretty intimidating for sure. Everyone has seen the dang thing at some point or another, especially if it has received any sort of media coverage. Luckily, Brett didn’t know about any of that, so he was good. Alright, we’ll stop giving him a hard time—for now, at least.

Now that the truck was at its new home in Brett’s garage, he took some time to take it all in and assess the truck’s condition. A few items needed a bit of attention, such as adding LED lighting to the custom gauge panel, but it was more a matter of updating stuff rather than a true need to fix anything. And, as if the truck wasn’t high-caliber enough, Brett had Shawn Robinson of Old Man Customz fabricate a set of underbelly pans for the ultimate street rod-style flex while set up at shows.

Other updates included custom sheetmetal work under the bed by Shawn, some paint matching by Lesa Lothrigal, a one-off custom stainless steel exhaust including custom headers by Best Muffler in Las Vegas, vintage plug wires run through the valve covers, and a polished steering rod. Oh, and once everything was finished, Brett had the Ranger’s paint corrected, polished, and ceramic coated by MADhouse Customs. Like we said, nothing too radical, but definitely enough to bring the truck up to yet another level. In fact, the Ranger still has crowds around it wherever it appears, including the invite-only Grand National Truck Show, where it took home an America’s Most Beautiful Truck Contender plaque and the Outstanding Display award.

Don’t worry—Brett is fully up to speed with the importance of provenance of his truck since getting it.

As he proudly said, “When I told some people I was getting the ‘Stranger,’ not many of them believed me, and they knew more about the truck than I did! Now I have the honor to be the caretaker of such an iconic truck!”

---

 TRUCK SPECS

Owner 

• Brett & Kelli Hunsaker
• Las Vegas
• 2000 Ford Ranger
• Relaxed Atmosphere

Chassis & Suspension

• Work by Pascal Barone and Little Shop MFG
• Hand-built frame with incorporated stock floor body drop
• Frame painted to match body
• Toyota pickup style front suspension with tubular control arms by Old Man Customz
• Rear billet aluminum wishbone suspension with airbags by Old Man Customz
• Slam Specialties RE-7 airbags front and rear
• Dual 24-inch FLO air tanks and Viair compressors
• AccuAir air management system with custom shadow box and 3D-printed logo by Old Man Customz
• All lines run through frame
• 13-inch Wilwood brakes
• Polished aluminum fuel cell
• Polished steering rod

Wheels & Tires

• 22×8.5 and 24×10 Raceline Cheyenne wheels, polished barrels, brushed faces, painted openings
• 245/30ZR22 and 275/30ZR24 Wanli SP601 tires

Engine & Drivetrain

• Ford 302 Mustang GT engine
• Holley carburetor
• ARP hardware
• MSD ignition
• Custom-made billet valve covers
• Flush-mount pop-up oil fill cap
• Lokar dipsticks
• Vintage style spark plug wires
• March Performance front-runner pulley setup
• Electric fan
• Handmade polished stainless steel headers and exhaust by Best Muffler
• Ford AOD transmission

Body & Paint

• Work performed by Little Shop MFG
• 2001 Ranger front end
• Ford Explorer hood hinges and gas hood shocks
• 1994 Ranger lower bumper section
• Re-radiused and pulled in front wheel arches
• One-off grille and billet insert
• Shaved emblems, handles, third brake light, fuel door, fender pinch welds, and bed stake pockets
• Modified windshield cowl
• 1988 Ranger tailgate section grafted into tailgate
• Custom knob to open tailgate
• Extended inner tailgate to be flush with top of bed
• Harley-Davidson pop-up gas cap flush-mounted in bed rail
• Molded rollpan with reinforced lower lip
• Bed floor raised, custom wood floor
• Custom rear wheel tubs
• Hand-built sheetmetal engine compartment
• Painted Sparkling Silver Metallic
• Custom belly pans and sheetmetal under bed by Shawn Robinson
• Custom paint matching by Lesa Lothrigal, including lower valance
• Paint restored and ceramic coated by MADhouse Customs

Interior & Stereo

• Work performed by Recovery Room Hot Rod Interiors and Little Shop MFG
• 1950 Ford Crestliner dashboard
• Ford Crestliner style trim wrapped through interior
• Custom door panels w/leather pouches, basket-weave inserts, and hand-built arm rests
• One-off gauge cluster
• Concealed shifter under dash
• Modified VW seats with basket-weave inserts
• ididit steering column with 1940 Ford replica steering wheel
• Clayton Machine pedals, door openers, and window cranks
• Accuair controller hidden in custom center console
• Custom stereo components concealed behind vintage guitar amp cloth in doors and under dash
• Rolls Royce style carpet
• Rear cab console uses 1930s hardware for latches
• Pop-out coat hangers in rear doors from Cadillac Escalade
• Painless wiring harness

---