I had a little Ranger as well. ‘93 I think. Single cab, 5spd, 4 banger.
Good little truck. I abused the hell out of that thing and it just kept running.
For personal use I’d likely look at the Ranger over the Maverick.
The new Ranger doesn't save you anything cost ways over a stripped down F-150. But a stripped down Maverick, even in all wheel drive, has an MSRP of less than $24K