Still too much money for people that need a truck, whether Ranger or full size F150. I think we need a dual registration scheme, some sort or rural use vehicle that could by license be excluded from freeways and urban areas but in return be free from federal mandates that make cars expensive. Crash standards, airbags, onboard electronics all gone. 1990s level emissions equipment, no fuel standards that neccesitate complex engine modes, hybrids, etc. Just a truck. Put together like an 80s Nissan pickup.
My solution to this was made in 1983, but is only viable because I can rebuild the transmission that I need to rebuild currently. The pool of beaters is ever shrinking.
As long as by "Rural Use" you mean not on public roads at all, you can do that.
I actually get what you are saying, but sometimes I think folks don't really understand what it would take to build a 1980's pickup today.
My first truck, in 1995, was an '82 Datsun extended cab 4x4. Exactly the "basic" truck you are thinking about. MSRP on that truck (according to cargurus.com) was $9,244 in 1982. Inflation calculator (BLS.com) says that's $24,703.54 now. So what a Ranger starts at. A 2019 Ranger SuperCab 4x4 XL, which seems to be the closest cross of my DLX Datsun* is $28,460 so a little more then the 80's pickup in real cost but not a ton.
Honestly, given that a Polaris Ranger 1000, which is a hopped up ATV (None of those pesky highway standards here), is $15,499 base price I don't know how much of an actual truck one could get for less then $20-$25k no matter how many standards they ignore. I suspect that economies of scale have long since kicked in with street legal vehicles.
*It's hard to cross exactly on the models, DLX was a loaded truck in 1982, while XL is "stripped" now, but when actually looking at the equipment the XL has more stuff, so I feel the comparison is still good. In 1982 the tach was optional.
