It makes all the sense in the world for Ford to sell the Ranger Raptor in the US. Just look at the phenomenal success of the F-150 Raptor. Now that non-Raptor Ranger pricing has been announced for 2019, attention is naturally turning towards the expected hardcore off-road variant. Already on sale in the Asia Pacific region such as Australia, the Ranger Raptor really does look like a smaller version of the mighty F-150 Raptor and that's no bad thing.

We want this truck here in the US, but Ford continues to remain quiet on whether it'll happen, even despite the fact we uncovered a spy video of a Ranger Raptor prototype in a Detroit area parking lot. Fortunately, the Ranger5G forum believes it has found filed patent images for this very vehicle.

Or, in other words, definitive proof the Ranger Raptor of a US version. The patent images were reportedly filed in Australia, however, they show a slightly different truck than the one on sale in that country. We admit that's not serious evidence, but then there's this tidbit: The filing also lists a US patent application number for the Ranger Raptor. Bingo. The folks at Ranger5G forum then searched for that patent number (29/634999) on the US Patent and Trademark Office website.

Unfortunately, nothing was found. However, it is possible for companies to keep patent applications private until the patent is approved. Since Ford has yet to make any official announcement, it makes sense to retain that design patent privacy. At this point, all we can do is wait and hope for the best. Chances are Ford will unveil the Ranger Raptor (now that we know a US-spec model exists) in the near future, perhaps at Detroit in January.