1973 · Ford · United States
1973 Ford Ranchero GT: a second confirming lineage
The Ranchero GT continued on the 1972-76 Ranchero; 15,320 GTs were built, per reference-site counts in the Standard Catalog lineage.
United States · researched through 2026-09-25
Wikipedia records that the 1972-1976 Ranchero was offered as the 500, the woodgrain-sided Squire and the sporty GT, and that the 351 Cleveland could be had in four-barrel Cobra Jet form through 1974. Ford-Torino.de's production overview gives 15,320 Ranchero GTs for 1973, a figure this record's own dek describes as resting on reference-site counts within the Standard Catalog lineage rather than on a directly read factory production document.1,2
This record's own production notes describe a second, independently named source now matching that 15,320 figure: The Production Figure Book for U.S. Cars, a 1977 reference book by Jerry Heasley read via search-inside snippets, gives the identical 15,320 GT count alongside matching figures of 25,634 for the Ranchero 500 and 4,787 for the Squire. This record states directly that this agreement does not confirm either compilation against an actual Ford production record, but the GT figure is no longer resting on a single unverified source for this year specifically.3
This record's own paint section carries the same documented methodological note used in the prior year: the thirty-four colors listed come from hdpaintcode.com's 1973 Ford Passenger Cars chart rather than its separate Ford Trucks list, since the Ranchero is not itself named by model on that page and the split follows the same pattern used for 1972. This record states plainly that the choice rests on the Ranchero sharing the Torino passenger platform's two-character color codes rather than the F-Series truck platform's single-letter or single-digit codes, and that it is not independently confirmed against a Ranchero-specific order form.4
This record's engines, transmissions and options sections are all empty for 1973 despite Wikipedia's own overview text describing four-barrel Cobra Jet 351 Cleveland availability through 1974, a specific engine claim this record has not yet been able to attach a rating, displacement entry, or production count to for the year. The price section carries the same editorial note found elsewhere in this record: a J.D. Power-sourced figure was removed as of September 24, 2026, since those live valuation pages cannot be independently verified, and no replacement source this record can stand behind has yet been found.1
Specification detail is limited to a single 118.0-inch wheelbase for the 1973 Ranchero across all trims, drawn from Wikipedia rather than a factory specification sheet, with no length, width or weight found in an accessible source. This record's interiors, performance and identification sections are all empty as well, a documented gap rather than an assumption that none of that detail exists for the car.1
Two unpublished leads repeat the production figures already given above. A ranchero.us forum post gives the identical 15,320 GT, 25,634 Ranchero 500 and 4,787 Squire lineage, naming no source beyond the usual attribution to the Standard Catalog. A French photo site, trombinoscar.com, prints the same three numbers for 1973 but against what this record's own note describes as scrambled trim labels, an error this record does not adopt into its own production figures, since that same site's Ranchero pages carry labelling errors across several other model years as well.2
Fact sheet · 1973 · United States
The numbers
1973 Ford Ranchero GT — The Ranchero GT continued on the 1972-76 Ranchero; 15,320 GTs were built, per reference-site counts in the Standard Catalog lineage.
Coverage: Partial — researched sections are shown; missing ones are not yet sourced. Researched through 2026-09-25.
Every figure is labeled with how sure we are. Reported means a manufacturer, registry, or reference figure we cite but have not reconciled against factory records ourselves. Disputed means credible sources disagree and both are shown. Rows are separately scoped; don't add them together unless the note says they make up a total.
Production
| What was counted | Count | Basis | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ranchero GT2,3 GT · sedan pickup · as published | 15,320 | built, model-year | Reported |
| What was counted | Count | Basis | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ranchero 5002,3 Ranchero 500 · sedan pickup · as published Not a GT; context for the GT share. | 25,634 | built, model-year | Reported |
| Ranchero Squire2,3 Squire · sedan pickup · as published Not a GT; context for the GT share. | 4,787 | built, model-year | Reported |
The GT, 500 and Squire counts each now match a second, named lineage: The Production Figure Book for U.S. Cars (Jerry Heasley, 1977), read via search-inside snippets, gives the identical 15,320 / 25,634 / 4,787 figures. This does not confirm either compilation against a Ford record, but it is no longer a single-source figure.
The GT count comes from Ford-Torino.de, an unsourced enthusiast reference in the Standard Catalog lineage; the Standard Catalog of American Light-Duty Trucks or a Ford production report would allow verification.
Ranchero counts above come from Ford-Torino.de's production overview, an enthusiast reference site in the Standard Catalog lineage; the forum list in the unpublished leads gives the same figures.
No whole-year 1973 Ranchero total was found. The three rows are not added, because no source seen states that they exhaust the year (Heasley prints the three rows with no total line). Searched 2026-09-29: Heasley's Production Figure Book (search-inside snippets), conceptcarz year pages (series modelID 1550), Wikipedia, the forum and photo-site lists already in the leads. A Ford production report or the Standard Catalog of American Light-Duty Trucks would close it.
Prices when new *
No price is shown here. One was, until 2026-09-24: a figure from J.D. Power's live valuation pages, pulled from every page on this site because those pages can change without our knowing and we have no way to check them independently. We haven't found a source we can stand behind to put in its place yet. A price for this car elsewhere that looks suspiciously exact may be quoting that same J.D. Power figure rather than confirming it — several sites we checked turned out to be doing exactly that, without saying so.
Paint
| Code | Color | Built |
|---|---|---|
9A |
White4 | Not yet sourced |
1C |
Black4 | Not yet sourced |
2J |
Maroon4 | Not yet sourced |
5A |
Pewter Metallic4 | Not yet sourced |
6D |
Yellow4 | Not yet sourced |
3B |
Light Blue4 | Not yet sourced |
4P |
Medium Green Metallic4 | Not yet sourced |
6C |
Medium Goldenrod4 | Not yet sourced |
4Q |
Dark Green Metallic4 | Not yet sourced |
2B |
Bright Red4 | Not yet sourced |
5H |
Ginger Metallic4 | Not yet sourced |
6B |
Light Goldenrod4 | Not yet sourced |
5L |
Tan4 | Not yet sourced |
2C |
Red Metallic4 | Not yet sourced |
4B |
Bright Green Gold Metallic4 | Not yet sourced |
48 |
Bright Green Gold Metallic4 | Not yet sourced |
4S |
Light Green4 | Not yet sourced |
4D |
Dark Ivy Bronze Metallic4 | Not yet sourced |
2G |
Medium Red Metallic4 | Not yet sourced |
5J |
Medium Ginger Metallic4 | Not yet sourced |
4C |
Ivy Bronze Metallic4 | Not yet sourced |
5K |
Dark Gold Metallic4 | Not yet sourced |
6F |
Bright Yellow Gold Metallic4 | Not yet sourced |
6E |
Medium Bright Yellow4 | Not yet sourced |
6G |
Bright Yellow Gold Metallic4 | Not yet sourced |
3D |
Medium Blue Metallic4 | Not yet sourced |
3G |
Dark Blue Metallic4 | Not yet sourced |
5F |
Dark Brown Metallic4 | Not yet sourced |
1A |
Light Gray Metallic4 | Not yet sourced |
5D |
Ginger Bronze Metallic4 | Not yet sourced |
1D |
Silver Metallic4 | Not yet sourced |
6L |
Medium Gold Metallic4 | Not yet sourced |
5M |
Medium Chestnut Metallic4 | Not yet sourced |
5N |
Medium Orange Metallic4 | Not yet sourced |
4N |
Medium Aqua4 | Not yet sourced |
5P |
Copper Metallic4 | Not yet sourced |
3L |
Silver Blue Metallic4 | Not yet sourced |
3K |
Bright Blue Metallic4 | Not yet sourced |
4U |
Bright Lime Gold Metallic4 | Not yet sourced |
2K |
Fuschia4 | Not yet sourced |
9C |
White4 | Not yet sourced |
3A |
Platinum4 | Not yet sourced |
Color names are the factory's. We don't show color swatches, because a screen color is no guide for a restoration.
Specifications
| Measure | Value | Applies to |
|---|---|---|
| Wheelbase1 | 118 in | 1973 Ranchero, all trims |
Identification
Read a 1973 Ford VIN
The VIN decoder runs in your browser and never sends the VIN anywhere. How the factory numbered this year's cars:
Same model year
Also in 1973
- AMC AMX The Javelin AMX's best year. 5,707 were built, a quarter of them with the 401, alongside the Trans Am Victory decal and the Pierre Cardin interior.
- AMC Gremlin X and Spirit AMX The V8 Gremlin X continued, with new stripes and an available Levi's denim-look interior. No production split has been found.
- AMC Javelin The SST name dropped away and new twin 'TV-screen' taillights arrived. Javelin production reached 25,195, alongside the Trans Am Victory decal package.
- Buick Riviera Stage One (260 hp net) joined a separate GS handling package; 1,234 Stage Ones and 3,933 GS cars of 34,080.
- Buick Skylark Gran Sport, GS and GSX On the new Colonnade A-body the GS became a Century Gran Sport package; 6,637 were built, 728 with the 455 Stage 1.
- Chevrolet Chevelle and Malibu SS The Colonnade Chevelle's only SS year: RPO Z15 on the Malibu coupe and, for the first and only time, the station wagon, with a 245 net hp 454 available.
- Chevrolet Chevy II and Nova Hatchback appears in the source body table; SS offered with any engine per the source. Enthusiast-compiled production: 369,509 cars; Super Sport 35,542.
- Chevrolet El Camino SS The new Colonnade El Camino could still be ordered with RPO Z15 SS equipment; no El Camino SS count was found.
- Dodge Challenger The six was gone: every 1973 Challenger hardtop had a V8, the 318 standard and the 340 optional, with the Rallye now sold as a package.
- Dodge Charger The Charger's best-selling year of the original era, 119,318 cars, came as the 440 lost its Magnum name and the car moved toward personal luxury.
- Dodge Dart GTS, Swinger and Demon Renamed Dart Sport, the fastback's 340 model sold 11,315 in the 340's final year.
- Ford Maverick Grabber The 200 six became standard as the 170 was dropped; Classic Industries counts 32,350 Grabbers.
- Ford Thunderbird The 429 4V was standard and the 460 4V optional in the sixth generation's best-selling year.
- Ford Torino The 1973 Torino kept the 1972 body behind a heavier bumper; the Gran Torino Sport fell to 51,853 SportsRoofs and 17,090 hardtops while the 351 Cobra Jet remained the performance engine.
- Mercury Cougar The last Cougar convertible and the last 351 Cobra Jet year, with production up to 60,629 as buyers shifted to the XR-7.
- Mercury Montego GT The Montego GT fastback's second and last year; a vehicle profile reports 4,464 built.
- Oldsmobile Cutlass, 4-4-2 and Hurst/Olds On the new Colonnade Cutlass the 4-4-2 was a W-29 appearance and handling option, and the Hurst/Olds came in white or, for the first time, black: 1,097 built.
- Plymouth Barracuda and 'Cuda V8 only: the 318 became standard on both Barracuda and 'Cuda, the 340 moved to the option list, and production rose for the only time after 1970.
- Plymouth Duster 340 and 360 The 340's last year in the Duster produced 15,731 cars with power front disc brakes now standard, and the Spacemaker Pak fold-down rear seat joined the line.
- Plymouth GTX, Belvedere and Satellite For 1973 the GTX name survived only through the Road Runner's optional 440 four-barrel, which came with TorqueFlite only; Mueller's Muscle Car Source Book counts 749 of them.
- Plymouth Road Runner A secondary count puts production back up to 19,056, the highest of the 1971-1974 Satellite-based years.
- Pontiac Firebird and Trans Am The Super Duty year: 4,802 Trans Ams, 252 of them SD-455s.
- Pontiac GTO A GTO option on the new Colonnade LeMans, with the 400 standard and a 455 optional; 4,806 built.
- Pontiac Grand Am Pontiac's Colonnade GT with an Endura nose and a 400 or 455; 43,137 built, the Grand Am's best year, with 1,058 four-speeds.
- Pontiac Grand Prix The Colonnade-body Grand Prix arrives, with the 400 standard and the 455 in the SJ.
- Pontiac Tempest and LeMans The Colonnade LeMans arrives, with GTO and GT options for the two-door models and a Super Duty 455 listed for the LeMans in Pontiac's dealer book.