2022 Ford Ranger Splash dives into deep end of ’90s nostalgia

The Ford Ranger Splash returns, but without the flare-side bed walls that last made a splash in the ’90s. The 2022 Ford Ranger Splash will be offered as an appearance package, and as a rotating cast of limited editions showcasing a unique body color, Ford announced Wednesday. 

Closing out this generation of Ranger with a Splash before the 2023 redesign, Ford aims to capitalize on two concurrent trends, the resurgent small pickup truck segment and treacly nostalgia for all things ’90s. We see you, lost sandwich generation known as Gen Xers. 

2022 Ford Ranger Splash Pacakge

The Splash Package paints the Ranger orange with black graphics streaking down the sides. It rolls on 18-inch black wheels with a 12-spoke pattern, and black gloss trim accents the grille, bumpers, mirror caps, moldings, and fender vents with XLT or Lariat badging. Sold only in crew cab models on XLT and Lariat trims, the Ranger Splash Package costs $1,495. Off-road adjacent FX2 and FX4 Packages can be combined with the Splash Package for all the badging and an electronic locking rear differential. Orange cross-stitching accents the seats, steering wheel, and gear shifter.

If orange is not your new black, Ford will also sell the 2022 Ranger Splash Limited Edition. An exclusive color sold on only a few hundred models will be introduced “every few months,” which sounds like every quarter to us, before it disappears. The Snow Edition kicks off the cycle in what we presume to be a white color to complement the 18-inch matte black wheels and similar accents of the Splash Package on the inside and outside. If only licensing allowed Ford to name it a Snow White or Stormtrooper edition, then the cross-generation nostalgia would be as complete as the cross-stitching. 

The small truck segment just got more crowded and more competitive, with the redesigned 2022 Nissan Frontier mid-size pickup and the smaller 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz ute launching this summer, as well as Ford’s own 2022 Maverick small pickup that comes standard as a hybrid. 

We’ll see if the 2022 Ford Ranger Splash makes any waves when it goes on sale at the end of the year. 

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