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American automakers are looking at a hard time these days. In the united states here we have always been about big horsepower and big vehicles. So far we have seen the fall of Oldsmobile and Plymouth and on a few occasions we have gotten the question presented in the back of our minds about Ford motor company, and General motor’s. We all know about Chrysler and Cerberus and how much Cerberus is changing in that automaker and as well as Dodge. It seems to me that thanks to the economy has really beaten down the automotive world and unfortunately the next one possibly on the chopping block is Ford’s Mercury brand.

For instance, no Mercury vehicle currently exists which isn’t a mild rebadge of a Ford product and there has been not a peep regarding future Mercury products. Lincoln too has gotten some love as of late with its new MKS sedan, but a Mercury flag-bearer is conspicuously absent. You have the Grand Marquis right, take off the mercury badge and you have a Crown Victoria, Same with the Sable, its a Taurus and the Mountaineer! Its just an explorer with a face lift!

While the Mariner and Milan could arguably justify their positions in Ford’s lineup, the Sable, Grand Marquis and Mountaineer seem completely irrelevant with what I stated above. Are two models really enough to justify an entire brand? In the world we live today, tomorrow and what we had in yester-year i think the answer is definately a No. While no official announcements have been made regarding the death of the Mercury brand, the new product silence is deafening enough for many to conclude that there’s just not enough money in Ford’s pockets to bring something new to the table and give us at least a minimal Wow factor, at least the Cougar gave us something sporty and something we could modify and enjoy! I bet you that if FoMoCo kept the Cougar in the Mercury lineup it would be the best seller today with how gas prices have gone.

If anything I think this might happen by 2010. Don’t Quote me on this, it’s just a gut feeling.

Here is Mercury’s Lineup with what I added underneath them. They Actually have no Independent/Unique Vehicles. I Dont see this lasting.

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You know, the ford explorer goes back many years and has many generations under its belt, Being this was going to be the replacement to the well known Ford Bronco/Bronco II it had mighty big shoes to fill! Dating back to the 1st generation explorer’s which hit the scene in 1991, they offered something right in the middle of the bronco’s, for those of you don’t remember The Bronco was a Full size SUV and the Bronco II was a compact SUV, so in 1990 Ford scratched the famous “Bronco” name from the blue oval and decided to venture something right down the middle, with a new name. Explorer. Little did Ford know, the explorer was going to take them to new heights in production and sales in the SUV world! We all Recognize the 1st generation Explorer(thanks to the blockbuster hit Jurassic Park) and believe it or not the name originally came as a trim package on the ford F-Series from ‘80-’86.

It came in two models a 2 Door and 4 Door and it sold very well actually its opening years between ‘91-’94, then came along a more rounded body 2nd generation explorer between ‘95-2001, then ford returned to that more boxy styling with the 3rd generation ‘02-’05, then what we have ‘06-present explorer that looks like a blend of the 3rd Gen explorer and current expedition.

The Ford Explorer Sport was a 2-door version of the Ford Explorer. It was produced from ‘91 to ‘03 and arrived as a trim level of the Ford Explorer, what most don’t realize is that it actually branched off and became its own model and no longer just a trim in ‘01! The second generation Explorer had moved on to being a 4-door-only for the 3rd generation model. There was only one Explorer Sport, but it being its own model gained its own trim’s! Ford Offered the Eddie Bauer (‘91-’94), an XL (‘91-’97), and the Expedition(‘95 and we see where that name went lol).

Ford collaborated with SALEEN on two explorers which I personally were still being produced and thats the XP6(4L V8) and XP8(5L V8) The XP8’s are quite hard to find and if you want the XP6, good luck because those were made by mistake!! Steve Saleen when he ordered explorers to make more XP8’s somehow XLT V6’s made it in the shipment, so he did it anyway and made the XP6! Oh and Rare? Less then 150 Made.

Ford had a few of Explorer Spin off’s in their sister companies through the years with the Mazda Navajo, Mercury Mountaineer, Lincoln Aviator. Ford also jumped into the SUT(Sport Utility Truck) market with The Ford Explorer Sport-Trac which literally is an Explorer with a 6ft Bed!

Here are a few shots of the generations of explorer’s we have been blessed with:

• 1st generation
• 2nd Generation(shown in 2dr sport as a trim)
• The 3rd Gen And Actual Ford Explorer Sport Model
• 3rd Generation As A 4 Door
• 4th Generation Explorer We Have Today

and now we have a completely revised Ford Explorer dubbed the “Ford Explorer America” concept and WOW, talk about reinventing the SUV!

Not only does it look wild compared to the previous generations, but we are talking new motors, transmissions, dynamics and all! This Generation has anywhere between 20 to 30 percent better fuel economy than the current Explorer, and how did they do this? That new motor I mentioned called an “EcoBoost”. There are 2 variations of EB motors for this new SUV, a 275HP 2L Four, yes thats right a Four Cylinder! And a 340-horsepower 3.5L V-6!! How did they do this? Well with a name like ecoBOOST, you might have guessed it already, Turbo and its Direct injection at that!!

As you can imagine with the fall back of Ford’s SVT(special vehicle team) down to 1 Vehicle, that ford is starting to look at fuel economy, I mean c’mon gas is definitely not getting cheaper and if Mazda can do it with the CX7(2.3L turbo 4cyl) Why not Ford right?
This SUV does have seating for 6 so they havnt shrunk it down completely, just resized alittle and a new more fuel-efficient 6-speed trans with a feature called “auto shift control”. This allows the driver to select and hold a lower gear with just the turn of a dial(ok so a fancier low and high on the column i guess), They also put the v6 model on a 150LB diet to boot hanks to its downsized engine, as well as more lightweight materials, a different suspension and other goodies.

And When I mentioned different looks.. I meant things like a more defined power dome hood, wrap-around rear glass panel window and sliding rear door give the appearance that this concept is ready for tomorrows demanding SUV owner. Now The Inside has features including stackable sliding seats that allow for convenient access to the second row, a work table with seats that deploy from rear tailgate and a three-dimensional… oh yes 3-D compass with navigation containing a topographical map built right into the instrument panel!! You have to see it to believe it and ya know what, i have those photo’s for you.

Enjoy Ladies and Gents. The Ford Explorer America Concept.

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