The styling of the Cargo intentionally followed the family look of Ford of Europe's car range with the distinctive louvred black "Aeroflow" grille also used on the likes of the Escort III and the Cortina 80, both of which Le Quement had worked on under the leadership of Uwe Bahnsen.

It was originally only built in Ford's Langley (Slough) plant, from which about a third of the production was exported to continental Europe.

In late 1985, for the 1986 model year, Ford introduced the Cargo as part of its United States commercial truck range.

[6] Intended to replace the long-running C-Series cabover (largely unchanged since 1957) the Cargo was gradually phased in alongside its predecessor, slotted below the larger CL-9000 semitractor.

Production of the model line was sourced from Brazil, making the Cargo the first American-market commercial Ford truck assembled outside of Louisville, Kentucky.

Rod Chapman won the FIA European Truck Racing Championship in 1985 and 1987 using a modified Cargo, with Gérard Cuynet doing the same in 1988.