The highest echelons of professional stage rallying are dominated, typically, by turbocharged hatchbacks, but in the grassroots world of American rallies, anything goes. A typical entry list can have everything from a Plymouth Fire Arrow to a Ford Festiva, but we’re big fans of Gary DeMasi’s rally creation: a 1985 Ford Ranger with a beastly 5.0-liter Ford V8 propelling the light truck over gravel forest roads with a sonorous eight-cylinder call echoing through the trees.
The Pennsylvania-based crew are competitive with their truck, which the team’s Facebook page claims makes a whopping 378 horsepower, which is a lot when the “racetrack” is lined with trees and gulleys for miles on end, and puts it all through a Tremec T-5 and a Mustang rear-end. That’s right, this is a rear-wheel-drive V8 Rally Ranger. DeMasi, who had worked as a rally sweeper for a number of years, suffered a stroke in 2010 and decided to build a rally truck as part of his rehabilitation, using the Ranger to help raise money for stroke awareness.
All we care about is that DeMasi, his family/crew, and his co-drivers keep fighting the good fight with the little runabout. You can keep your 300-horsepower Volkswagen Polo, World Rally Championship. The Rally Ranger is the real deal.
Awesome in the extreme!
The fastest and best-handling pickup I have ever seen. Now bring this over to the UK and enter some club rallies as I’d love to see it mixing it with classic Escorts and Porsche 911s.
Thank you for this awesome rite up funny I did not see this till today. we just did #STPR16 and had an awesome weekend did a fundraiser for stroke and personalized brain decals but the weekend didn’t go as planned, rolling at the end of stage one due to faulty air gauge tire pressures too low and rolling back over to continue at the supper special and blazed a great time then day 2 did some chart topping 2d times in the woods of 126- and 134 MPH coming 6 mph to david higgins top recorded speed at STPR. we placed second in class. and rolled again in the last stage but once we got out I saw my american flag on the ground as I got out of the truck and in hero style I picked it up and ran it to the finish, PS after my stroke this was the first time i ran and I was beat at the finish line but the crowd went nuts and I got back in the truck and finished the stage as well. I held on the the 2nd place originally 20 seconds behind the porsche I was racing. and I drove the truck in the rally cross the following day, story on my FB page http://www.fb.com/v8rallyranger
Thats a roudy sounding Ranger.
https://www.facebook.com/V8RallyRanger/photos/a.1223217361036408.1073741837.437750312916454/1223219214369556/?type=3&theater
Good to see Gary and the ranger get some digital ink on BS. Just spent the weekend in woods watching Gary wheel this thing 110%. Definitely a fan favorite in PA.
Gary is so awesome! He’s the team I cheer for! So much heart. Having so much fun and the ranger is a really cool rally build! And that’s before you even dig into his backstory and everything he’s overcome to get to this point!