• more about #2011ford more comments →
    MissingPieces: why wont "these people" admit that they need a station wagon! not a jacked up station wagon! more »
    MushyHeirloom: Maybe like this. What say you, Ford fans? more »
    prndl-The Unemployed: The Explorer went so far up market that it became to close to the Expedition. People who wanted towing capability up sized and the Explorer was in the... more »
    General_Zad's_Chicken: Instead of up close and personal can I have it "Far away and disenchanted"? more »
    jeremyc: So, you can't tow a boat with it. You can't use it off-road (i know, most don't anyways), but it's still too big for what it needs to be. What's the... more »
    Elhigh: I don't hate it. I like the heavy-browed underbite face, kinda like Spike the bulldog. more »
    Electro Gyrocator: This is what the real Explorers were: That car-based thing is such blasphemy. Keep it the damn Taurus X and build a real Explorer. I want to explore ... more »
    Mad_Science: Someone's missing the point. It's either me or the product planners. Seems like they took home the message that we need to make SUVs more fuel efficie... more »
    crevans: Ford used to name their SUVs with names indicating shorter distances based on size: Explorer - Far away, uncharted land. Expedition - Closer, but stil... more »
    wookie1901: I am sure this must have been said before, but if Ford already has the Flex, Edge, and Taurus X (which I guess will die soon) what is the point of a a... more »
    Pessimippopotamus: Ford should flay its marketing department, they got it soooo wrong in the last 10 years... more »
    bearslayer: I like Ben's seemingly apparent obsession with the exhaust system. To be fair, it does appear to be a rather nice looking, perhaps one-off prototype..... more »
    MaxSmart32: Maybe this is the long-awaited debut of the Ford's "T-drive"...anyone else remember that? more »
    Das ASHloch (achtundsiebzig): Ever since the Freestyle first came out, I wondered why they hadn't just called it the next-gen Explorer. It was a natural visual progression, and mos... more »
    Graverobber: This is brilliant; take all the un-sold cars off dealers lots, combine them frankenstein-style, and them ship 'em back out, and nobody will be any the... more »
  • #2011fordexplorer

    The Car-Based Ford Explorer Test Mule, Up Close And Personal

    A funny thing happens when you ride a motorcycle around Detroit with no particular purpose: You see a lot of things people would rather you not see, like the curious-looking car-based 2011 Ford Explorer we first saw a couple days ago. Having no final destination also gives you the freedom to chase down your quarry and tail it until the driver parks it in a public parking lot to go have dinner with his buddies. So we played the stalker — oh well. It afforded us the opportunity to poke around the "Ford Freestyle with the Flex nose" and learn some interesting things about the supposed new Explorer — primarily that it's powered by a transversely mounted engine. More confounding details and a positively enormous gallery of spy shots below. More »