Year of Ford Explorer

See also Ford Explorer Sport Trac for the spinoff pickup truck SUV Crossover version

The Ford Explorer is a mid-size sport utility vehicle sold in North America and built by the Ford Motor Company since 1990. It's manufactured in Louisville, Kentucky (it was also assembled in Hazelwood, Missouri until the plant closed on March 10, 2006). The Ford Explorer was instrumental in turning the SUV from a special-interest vehicle into one of the most popular vehicle types on the road.

The Explorer has also been involved in controversy, after a spate of fatal rollover accidents involving Explorers fitted with Firestone tires.

Both two-door Explorer Sport and four-door models of Explorer have been sold. Part-time four-wheel drive is an available option, and since 1995 this has been a 'shift on the fly' system with full protection against being engaged at high speed.

A specially modified Special Service Vehicle version is also available from Ford Fleet for law enforcement.

Explorer was also the name of a trim package offered on the Ford F-Series trucks from 1968 to 1986.

The Ford Explorer Sport was a 2-door version of the Ford Explorer, designed to take the place of the Bronco II in Ford's model line, and was produced from 1991 to 2003. The Sport began as a trim level of the Ford Explorer, but it eventually became its own model. It rode on a 10" shorter wheelbase. There was only one Sport, but there were several other trim levels of the Explorer that were available with 2 doors(edmunds trim levels), such as the XL (1991-1997), the Eddie Bauer (1991-1994), and the Expedition (1995). In 1998 the Explorer Sport became the only 2-door trim level of the Explorer, and in 2001 it became its own model, as the second generation Explorer moved on to a 4-door-only 3rd generation.

The Ford Explorer was released in March 1990 as a 1991 model. It was equipped with a 4.0L 155hp (116kW) V6 engine and 4-speed A4LD automatic transmission or 5-speed M5OD manual transmission. Like the Ford Bronco II it replaced, it was an SUV derivative of the Ford Ranger Pickup, but larger. Following the Chevrolet S-10 Blazer, it came in both 2-door and 4-door bodystyles. It was available with rear or four-wheel drive. The four-wheel drive versions came with a Borg Warner 13-54 part-time four wheel drive transfer case. The 13-54 was available with "Touch Drive" electronic push button shifting as well as manual, lever operated shifting. Both designs were "shift-on-the-fly" designs that allowed the truck to be shifted from two wheel drive to 'four-high' at any speed. All Explorers came with the 8.8" Ford rear axle in either a limited slip or open version with a variety of available gear ratios. Explorers came in 4 trim levels: base XL, XLT, Sport (only available on the two-door version), and the upscale Eddie Bauer Edition. 15hp (11kW) was added for 1993 for a total of 170hp (119kW). The Limited edition, added for 1993, was available only in the 4-door style and was even more upscale than the Eddie Bauer version. It featured automatic headlights, foglamps, an automatic transmission as standard equipment, an auto-dimming rear view mirror, a center roof console with compass and outside thermometer, special wheels, and a special grille.