Wednesday, October 05, 2005

2007 Ford Explorer Sport Trac, nice but I'd rather have the Ranger Crew Cab

Check MPH Online for the new 2007 Explorer Sport Trac. It's an obvious improvement over the original, but does it have a purpose? Pictured here is the Explorer Sport Trac Adrenaline by SVT, with 390 hp and all wheel drive, a very attractive package to be sure. But it's going to be a limited production model and expensive. By the time dealers jack up prices, it will be difficult for the average enthusiast to afford one. Many may just take a wander of to their local Chevy Dealer for the Trailblazer SS, which is not going to be a limited production piece and will not be as heavily premium priced.
The original Sport Trac was the answer to a question nobody was asking. While other makes were offering crew cab versions of their compact and mid size trucks, Ford cut off the back of an Explorer added an odd little bed and gave us this.
Elsewhere around the globe, Ford did it right. Take a look at this Ranger Crew Cab from the UK and realize that this little beauty is availalbe everywhere but North America.

So while I like the new Sport Trac, that's really only because it's an improvement over the last one. It's not what we needed though and the SVT version will only serve to anger faithful SVT fans. It's no Lightning and it's limited number and high mark up will doom it against the Chevy SS.

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