Can you travel to a southern state to get one? Of course driving a classic vehicle that far without completely being able to trust it might not be recommended.
These trucks are generally reliable and well built for what they are, and most things are easy to fix. Here's a little tip that many people might not know about these. The step-side versions have boxes that are skinned in fiberglass. That means no rust around the rear fenders on those, which is a pretty nice feature if you're in the rust belt.
I own a 2003 automatic version with a V6, and it has been very reliable for the few years that I've owned it. I did have the brake line rust out on it though, so rust can definitely be an issue. My 17 year old was driving it when the brakes gave way. Luckily he was in a parking lot going super slow when it happened. I had to drive about 45 minutes away to go rescue him. That was an adventure.
We used our 2018 CRV to help get it home with a tow strap. I had my kid in the Ranger with no brakes, while I was in the Honda CRV behind him. We used the CRV as the brakes for both vehicles, with both of our cell phones on speaker for communication.
The brakes in the poor little CRV were smoking and stinking when we got home, but we did make it. I then replaced the rear brake lines with flexible copper-nickel tubing, which I highly recommend. The roll of copper-nickel tubing and the needed fittings are cheaper and better than the pre-bent stock brake lines that are also available.
So anyways, yes, I do recommend Ford Rangers, just try to get one that isn't completey rotted out yet.