EXPLORER 1ST GEN
Total Revs
13
Global Rank
#196
Gen Rank
1 MORE REVS TO REACH #195 IN OVERALL GEN
Ranked Categories
About the Explorer 1st Gen
Ford took the Ranger platform, added two more doors and a 4.0-liter Cologne V6 making 155 hp, and accidentally created the SUV that America wanted. The first-gen Explorer arrived in 1991 and outsold everything in its class within a year. Body-on-frame, live rear axle, part-time four-wheel drive with a manual transfer case. This was a truck that Ford dressed up as a family vehicle. The Eddie Bauer and Limited trims added leather and wood, and suburban driveways filled up overnight. Handling was truck-like because it was a truck. The Firestone tire recall in 2000 became the biggest automotive safety crisis since the Pinto, and it happened mostly on these. The first-gen Explorer changed how America moved. For better and worse.