I’ll start my own group, then!
In October 2018, Jane Cartwright was trying to get some advice from an online forum about how to loosen the high-beam dust caps on her Ranger. Simple enough request. But the barrage of abuse shocked her. It was all ‘just get your husband to do it’ and worse.
So, she thought, ‘Well, stuff you lot, I’ll start my own group, then!’ A few ladies agreed to jump in and the Ford Rangerettes was born. In just a week, they had over a hundred members and the group kept growing, attracting ‘so many different women, we had librarians, lawyers, stay-at-home mums, nurses, teachers, childcare workers, you name it.’
These days, this ‘safe space’ for women in the 4X4 scene has over 4,300 members, supported by an admin team of 10 volunteers across the country. ‘We even have a second tier of group experts - qualified mechanics, fitters and auto electricians - who help with the more technical questions in the group.’
The Rangerettes exchange tips and advice, raise money for charity and regularly get together for events all over Australia. And the only qualification for membership? Being a woman with a Ranger (or an Everest).
I’ll start my own group, then!
In October 2018, Jane Cartwright was trying to get some advice from an online forum about how to loosen the high-beam dust caps on her Ranger. Simple enough request. But the barrage of abuse shocked her. It was all ‘just get your husband to do it’ and worse.
So, she thought, ‘Well, stuff you lot, I’ll start my own group, then!’ A few ladies agreed to jump in and the Ford Rangerettes was born. In just a week, they had over a hundred members and the group kept growing, attracting ‘so many different women, we had librarians, lawyers, stay-at-home mums, nurses, teachers, childcare workers, you name it.’
These days, this ‘safe space’ for women in the 4X4 scene has over 4,300 members, supported by an admin team of 10 volunteers across the country. ‘We even have a second tier of group experts - qualified mechanics, fitters and auto electricians - who help with the more technical questions in the group.’
The Rangerettes exchange tips and advice, raise money for charity and regularly get together for events all over Australia. And the only qualification for membership? Being a woman with a Ranger (or an Everest).
Filling utes for farmers
As the club grew, members started asking if they could do something to help farmers during the drought. Jane thought to herself, ‘As women, we’re all organisers, we multitask all the time. So, yeah, we can do that.’
‘We started a campaign called Fill Our Utes for Farmers and the community just came on board.’ By December 2019, they’d raised enough donations to help thirteen families all the way through to February.
‘We delivered meat, cleaning products, pantry items, tank water, pet food, stock feed and Christmas presents. We desexed a farm dog, got horse supplements and covered all the vet fees. So, that was our first kind of stepping out as a club.’
Since then, they’ve helped clean up flood damage in NSW and QLD, and started the UTE-R-US rally to raise money for cervical cancer. ‘It was $5 per entry and we raised like $1,240. When you think of $5 per entry, it’s a lot. Many businesses who donated prizes know someone who’s been affected by cervical cancer, so it’s an important cause and one we’ll keep supporting.’
Filling utes for farmers
As the club grew, members started asking if they could do something to help farmers during the drought. Jane thought to herself, ‘As women, we’re all organisers, we multitask all the time. So, yeah, we can do that.’
‘We started a campaign called Fill Our Utes for Farmers and the community just came on board.’ By December 2019, they’d raised enough donations to help thirteen families all the way through to February.
‘We delivered meat, cleaning products, pantry items, tank water, pet food, stock feed and Christmas presents. We desexed a farm dog, got horse supplements and covered all the vet fees. So, that was our first kind of stepping out as a club.’
Since then, they’ve helped clean up flood damage in NSW and QLD, and started the UTE-R-US rally to raise money for cervical cancer. ‘It was $5 per entry and we raised like $1,240. When you think of $5 per entry, it’s a lot. Many businesses who donated prizes know someone who’s been affected by cervical cancer, so it’s an important cause and one we’ll keep supporting.’
Heading north with the girls
‘We did the NT National Tour in 2023. It took us about eight months to plan the whole thing and make it as affordable as we could. We managed to get the cost of group tours, permits and camping for 28 nights on the road down to $916 per person.’
‘So, we had 28 Ford Rangers that drove across Australia and met at Threeways on the Stuart Highway. We lined the cars up and people were like, ‘holy crap!’, and truckies stopped to take photos. And then, as the convoy went further north, more NT Rangerettes joined in. I think we had about 48 Rangers participate in total across the month.’
‘It would take us more than two hours just to fill up at a servo. So we wouldn’t hold truckies up, we decided to start using independent service stations and smaller roadhouses off the highway, supporting the smaller communities as we went. We had one manager literally tearing up because we had just spent more than they’d have made in a month, in three hours of filling up, getting snacks and supplies and ice.’
The group travelled through Litchfield, Dundee Beach, Crab Claw Island and Adelaide River, home of the famous jumping crocodiles. Next was Gunbalanya in Arnhem Land, taking Cahill’s Crossing over the East Alligator River, ‘the most croc-infested crossing in Australia. Massive crocodiles right next to your car door as you drive over and I’m thinking ‘Thank God I’ve got my Ranger between me and them.’’
The Rangerettes then took the red dirt Central Arnhem Highway over to Nhulunbuy, Yirkala and communities across the Yolngu homeland on the eastern side of the Top End. ‘We went hunting for mud crab, caught so many fish and may have accidentally swam with a crocodile or two!’ On the return journey the Boulia Camel Races capped off the adventure.
The Rangerettes are planning their next National Tour for October 2026. ‘Plans are underway to meet at the start of the Great Ocean Road, as the Melbourne ladies had to come furthest last time. We will hug the coastline across the Nullarbor all the way to Esperance in Western Australia. There’s even talk that we may head home via Uluru for the east coast members.’
Heading north with the girls
‘We did the NT National Tour in 2023. It took us about eight months to plan the whole thing and make it as affordable as we could. We managed to get the cost of group tours, permits and camping for 28 nights on the road down to $916 per person.’
‘So, we had 28 Ford Rangers that drove across Australia and met at Threeways on the Stuart Highway. We lined the cars up and people were like, ‘holy crap!’, and truckies stopped to take photos. And then, as the convoy went further north, more NT Rangerettes joined in. I think we had about 48 Rangers participate in total across the month.’
‘It would take us more than two hours just to fill up at a servo. So we wouldn’t hold truckies up, we decided to start using independent service stations and smaller roadhouses off the highway, supporting the smaller communities as we went. We had one manager literally tearing up because we had just spent more than they’d have made in a month, in three hours of filling up, getting snacks and supplies and ice.’
The group travelled through Litchfield, Dundee Beach, Crab Claw Island and Adelaide River, home of the famous jumping crocodiles. Next was Gunbalanya in Arnhem Land, taking Cahill’s Crossing over the East Alligator River, ‘the most croc-infested crossing in Australia. Massive crocodiles right next to your car door as you drive over and I’m thinking ‘Thank God I’ve got my Ranger between me and them.’’
The Rangerettes then took the red dirt Central Arnhem Highway over to Nhulunbuy, Yirkala and communities across the Yolngu homeland on the eastern side of the Top End. ‘We went hunting for mud crab, caught so many fish and may have accidentally swam with a crocodile or two!’ On the return journey the Boulia Camel Races capped off the adventure.
The Rangerettes are planning their next National Tour for October 2026. ‘Plans are underway to meet at the start of the Great Ocean Road, as the Melbourne ladies had to come furthest last time. We will hug the coastline across the Nullarbor all the way to Esperance in Western Australia. There’s even talk that we may head home via Uluru for the east coast members.’
Growing up in Arnhem Land
The trip through the NT was particularly nostalgic for Jane, because in the early 1980’s her family moved to Jabiru, a small mining township in the heart of Kakadu National Park.
Jane’s weekends were filled with swimming in flooded creeks, catching billabong barramundi in the wet season, and going on day trips out to waterfalls with friends and family.
‘We were always fishing, camping and going 4x4ing with someone’s parents. Back then we didn’t have recovery gear, and I don’t think our parents even aired their tyres down. If Dad got bogged it was our job to get out and lock the hubs in, and if that didn’t work, we had to find enough branches to stick under the wheels to get us out.
‘Our snatch straps consisted of ‘Telstra rope’ and, if someone’s 4WD broke down, that became the tow rope that got us back across the creeks with a resident croc watching on. As kids we had to get in and help, and those experiences taught me to think ahead and make sure I know how to self-recover when I’m on single car 4WD trips today.’
Growing up in Arnhem Land
The trip through the NT was particularly nostalgic for Jane, because in the early 1980’s her family moved to Jabiru, a small mining township in the heart of Kakadu National Park.
Jane’s weekends were filled with swimming in flooded creeks, catching billabong barramundi in the wet season, and going on day trips out to waterfalls with friends and family.
‘We were always fishing, camping and going 4x4ing with someone’s parents. Back then we didn’t have recovery gear, and I don’t think our parents even aired their tyres down. If Dad got bogged it was our job to get out and lock the hubs in, and if that didn’t work, we had to find enough branches to stick under the wheels to get us out.
‘Our snatch straps consisted of ‘Telstra rope’ and, if someone’s 4WD broke down, that became the tow rope that got us back across the creeks with a resident croc watching on. As kids we had to get in and help, and those experiences taught me to think ahead and make sure I know how to self-recover when I’m on single car 4WD trips today.’
A 70-year connection to Ford
It’s probably no coincidence that Jane is so loyal to Ford (and Ford Rangers - she’s had five of them!) because her grandfather actually worked there in the fifties.
‘When my opa was released as a prisoner of war, they came over from Germany by boat, landed in Newcastle and went up to Kingaroy to work in forestry. Then word got out that Ford was hiring new arrivals and my family moved down to Geelong in 1956.’
‘He started at the Geelong factory on the machine maintenance side. He was there for about six or seven years. And because of Ford, they saved enough to get into their first house. So, we’ve just always been a Ford family. Dad’s car was a Ford Fairlane and he had a project F-150 in the backyard.’
And next Ford off the rank for Jane is going to be a Ranger Super Duty. ‘Don’t get me wrong, I love my Ranger V6. I’ve set it up perfectly to suit my lifestyle. I mean, I can go off-grid for weeks to fish, camp and explore new locations. But I have to stay current. The Super Duty is going to be incredible - and that extra tonne of GVM will be very helpful.’
If you’ve got a story where your Ranger plays a part, please let us know. Every submission will be vetted and could feature on our socials or in future Ford Ranger advertisements. Simply click the button below.
A 70-year connection to Ford
It’s probably no coincidence that Jane is so loyal to Ford (and Ford Rangers - she’s had five of them!) because her grandfather actually worked there in the fifties.
‘When my opa was released as a prisoner of war, they came over from Germany by boat, landed in Newcastle and went up to Kingaroy to work in forestry. Then word got out that Ford was hiring new arrivals and my family moved down to Geelong in 1956.’
‘He started at the Geelong factory on the machine maintenance side. He was there for about six or seven years. And because of Ford, they saved enough to get into their first house. So, we’ve just always been a Ford family. Dad’s car was a Ford Fairlane and he had a project F-150 in the backyard.’
And next Ford off the rank for Jane is going to be a Ranger Super Duty. ‘Don’t get me wrong, I love my Ranger V6. I’ve set it up perfectly to suit my lifestyle. I mean, I can go off-grid for weeks to fish, camp and explore new locations. But I have to stay current. The Super Duty is going to be incredible - and that extra tonne of GVM will be very helpful.’
If you’ve got a story where your Ranger plays a part, please let us know. Every submission will be vetted and could feature on our socials or in future Ford Ranger advertisements. Simply click the button below.