I think what led me to my first ranger is the fact it was reliable. My bro used to have a 1995 ranger and he never gave it maintanence and kept running!
When it came time to buy my first car I looked to buy something inexpensive and bought my first ranger in 2005. It was an 1999 XL regular cab, white in color only about 6,000 dollars with 75,000 miles when I got it. I gave that one to my little bro when I paid it off and upgraded to a more recent version. Here's a pic of it.