IN A NUTSHELL: A nice combination of truck-utility, passenger-seating, and reasonable reliability...better IMO in some ways than today's Ranger.

Not long ago, I did a write-up on the two Honda CRXs that an ex-co-worker and personal friend of mine had owned. Later, in the early 2000s, after he had married his long-standing girl-friend from Alabama, whom he had known since high school, the two of them bought a nice single-family home, with a large built-in backyard swimming-pool, in Silver Spring, a Maryland suburb of D.C. She decided she wanted something more useful and practical than the bright red BMW 3-series convertible she had been driving.....can't really say I blame her, as a car like that is fun in the sun but not particularly utile...and smaller 4-seat convertibles are notorious for having almost no room in back. BMWs can also cost an arm and leg to maintain and repair once they are out of warranty or free service.


So, with some advice and input from from me, they went shopping (they pretty much did this themselves, as I wasn't an active part of the shopping like I often was with other co-workers)...and came home with a brand-new 2001 Ford Explorer Sport-Trac. I don't remember the name of the color Ford used, but it was a sort of metallic silverish-tan/beige....almost a light Champaigne color, with a more-or less-matching leather interior and a pretty good load of options. I'd say, along with the house and swimming pool, a pretty nice wedding present for them. Along with a couple of other vehicles, they have kept that truck ever since then (going on 19 years now), and currently show no sign of seriously wanting to part with it. He had asked me to check out the new mid-sized 2020 Ford Ranger when it debuted last year, as it was a possible successor to the Sport-Trac (and I did an MM-Review on it). But I wasn't very impressed with it, and neither was he when he went to look at it.

The First-Generation Sport-Trac, when it was introduced in 2001 (an updated, Second-Generation model would also be built from 2007-2010), was an interesting cross between the Ranger pickup and regular Explorer SUV, which was also based on the Ranger's basic platform. The Sport-Trac used a sightly-restyled front/mid-section from the Regular Explorer, with the body chopped off (and rear-window added) behind the back seat, and a separate bed-assembly welded onto the rear. Unlike the Ranger pickups, one can see a noticeable gap between the two halves of the body, behind the rear seat, where the rear bed-assembly was added. The interior/seating/dash/controls were more or less the same as a regular Explorer. My friend's example was a quite well-equipped version with V6, 4WD, sunroof, leather seating, swing-out bed-extender (a useful device which came in handy when we helped him move to another new house a number or years later...I'll get to that in a minute), full-power interior, and a number of other options.....listing for around 31K, which was not a particularly cheap figure in those days, especially for a Ford. It was also factory-equipped with the controversial Firestone Wilderness tires, which were failing under harsh conditions and sometimes causing rollovers on Explorers and Mercury Mountaineers, though my friend and his wife were fortunate enough not to encounter those conditions, most of which happened in Southern or desert climates with very hot roads and tire-neglect. My friends had only owned their new truck a couple of months when the Ford dealer recalled it and gave him another set of new tires (many customers got new Michelins as a replacement), destroying and deposing of the old ones. What actually caused that nationally-publicized fiasco is a long story. A major part of it, however, is that customers had been complaining about the bouncy rides on previous Explorers....that's one reason why, IMO, it is important to test-drive before buying. Rather than spend a lot of time and money on a frame/suspension redesign (some of their truck-suspensions went back to the front Twin-I-Beam of 1964), Ford simply lowered the recommended pressures in the Firestone tires to give a softer ride...to a level (26 PSI) that Firestone tire-engineers considered unsafe under harsh conditions. Ford and Firestone simply couldn't agree on the tire PSIs....Firestone wanted at least 30 at minimum. That, combined with some neglect to regularly check the tire-pressures in the first place (which is the owner's-responsibility, not that of the auto or tire-manufacturer), and running the vehicle overloaded, on hot roads, at high speeds, led to some real problems. That was also the end of the 100-year-old business-relationship between the Ford and Firestone companies.

Except for the (potential) tire problem, though, I liked the way my friend's truck was built, the materials used, the thickness of the doors/body-panels, and the general precision of the assembly (large bed/body-gap notwithstanding). I thought it was noticeably more solid-feeling than the latest Ranger that came out last year, which, itself, was a seven-year-old Australian truck-design transplanted to the U.S. with left-hand-drive. I can see why Ford trucks, and the Explorer line itself, were so popular back then, although, today, IMO, Chevy/GMC trucks/SUVs are, to me at least, somewhat more attractive. His Sport-Trac, though of course needing a few unscheduled repairs, has been reasonably reliable over the years, and has not cost him a lot to maintain.

Though I have ridden in it a number of times over the years, I also got to drive it a few times. When it was brand-new, to celebrate, he and his wife invited me over, and we took it out to a nice tavern near Frederick, a picturesque city at the foot of Catoctin Mountain in Maryland, and had a nice meal there. He had me drive part of the way there to check it out for any problems and see what I thought of it. I couldn't find any significant assembly-problems, and pretty much liked it except for the somewhat truck-bouncy ride...they didn't mind the firmness, and found it comfortable. The relatively soft leather seats did help with the comfort level somewhat, and I liked the column-shifter for the transmission...something I hadn't sampled in years. I also drove it again a few times several years later, when he and his wife moved to a larger house further out in Suburban Maryland, near Glenmont. Along with their Honda Element (I'll do a story on that vehicle later) the Sport-Trac was a good workhorse for helping to move some of the boxes and furniture. During the move, the metal-rail/fold-out bed-extender for the rear of the cargo-bed really came in handy several times, by helping to load in extra boxes and items without having them fall out. Unfortunately, those days are probably over for me now....my back and legs simply won't allow that kind of work any more, but those two vehicles were handy when needed.

Like I said, he and his wife still have it....it continues to serve them, and there seems to be no immediate or overriding reason to replace it now, although now, in the Coronavirus-pandemic, auto-manufacturers and dealerships are offering some very attractive offers for those who do want to (or need to) replace their vehicles. We'll see.

And, as Always, Happy Car-Memories.

MM

 

I love this vehicle. My uncle had both first and second generations, very durable, ride was decent. The 4.6L V8 option on the second gen made a nice grumble. It's not revolutionary, but it was unique. I would love to see a rendering of the current Explorer with a bed.

 

Glad your uncle enjoyed them. I agree the ride wasn't too bad by BOF truck-standards, but it's definitely on the stiff side if you are used to sedans.

I don't recall sampling a 2Gen Sport Trac with the V8, but if it was the same sound that the Mustang's 4.6L typically made, it was somewhat of a nasal-sounding burble/grumble. Unmistakable.....I could tell the sound of a 4.6L Mustang coming (or going) a mile way LOL.



You didn't find the current Explorer disappointing? A number of us here in Car Chat did.

The current 4-door Ranger, in concept, is fairly close to what the old Sport-Trac was, but both me and my friend also found it disappointing in its build-solidness and the rather unimpressive interior. But other opinions on it (including yours) my differ.

 

For sure. But I grew up on trucks and SUVs (Explorer, F-150, Escape, Grand Cherokee, F-250 SuperDuty), so it's not a bother. The 3rd and 4th gen Explorers had some pretty tight turning radius's for an SUV

The third gen Explorer's 4.6L was a SOHC 16-valve Modular V8 (237hp). When the 4th generation Explorer came out, it received the 2005 Mustang's 4.6L SOHC 24-valve Modular V8 (300hp). Honestly either is better than the ancient 4.0L "Cologne" V6 like I had on my 2003 Explorer. It's tried and true, takes a beating, but it's pretty anemic especially when I had a full 7 people in the vehicle.

A month ago I sampled one for maybe 30min. I only find it disappointing from the cabin material selection standpoint. I think the exterior (subjective) is stunning, and I like the drive feel, good agility for an SUV. In concept yes 4-doors and a bed, but the Sport-Trac always had a bit more 'cushion' so to speak. The 2011 Ranger you REALLY knew it was a truck.