Sunday, September 23, 2007

Ford Explorer Sport Trac

The Ford Explorer Sport Trac is a mid-size sport utility vehicle with a pickup truck bed sold mostly in North America. The Sport Trac is based on the Ford Explorer SUV and has been built by the Ford Motor Company since 2000. This pickup truck slots between the Ford Ranger and Ford F-Series in size, capability, and price. It competes with crew-cab mid-size pickups and crossovers, such as the Honda Ridgeline, and is a smaller alternative to the Chevrolet Avalanche. During the first year it sold in the US, the waiting list grew to over 3 months.

The Explorer Sport Trac was introduced in 2000 as a 2001 model. It was built on a lengthened Explorer chassis, but with a small pickup bed behind the four normal SUV doors. To make up for the short box, a bed extender was available. The bed was made entirely of a plastic composite material, and a hard plastic tonneau cover was a common factory option. The pickup had a more rugged-appearing front end, which the 2-door Explorer Sport also received. The rugged look carried to the interior, where the only floor option was a full rubber covering. Carpet was not available. Instead of the usual sliding rear window found on most pickups, the Sport Trac had a power "Breezeway" window. The 4.0 L Cologne V6 producing 210 hp was the only engine option. This generation Sport Trac remained in production through June 2005, when the final 2005 model year vehicle rolled off the line.

No comments: