The True Ancestor of the 5G Ranger

[P. A. Schilke]

I actually agree with OPs take. They do look very similar. Truth be told I hated the SportTrak's look, but they've grown on me as they've aged.

Hi Taylor,

Nope! SA Ranger.....

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[DukeCanBuildit]

Hi Duke,

Might not be aware, but the SuperCrew was inspired by the South American Ranger. We had the idea to import it but Chicken Tax and the huge cost to federalize it received a thumbs down from the bean counters.....

Assembled in Argentina from locally sourced parts... I was responsible for it too and sent my Spanish speaking Graduate Trainee, Crissy R. to the plant for 5 months to help keep tabs on it...

Best,
Phil

Thanks Phil - I’ve often wondered what my ‘01 would have looked like as a SuperCrew - now I have a pretty good idea! If that was introduced at the time, I don’t think Toyota would have made the same gains in the mid-size truck market that they did. It sure is a good looking truck. Wow. ?

 

[9zero1790]

Hi Duke,

Might not be aware, but the SuperCrew was inspired by the South American Ranger. We had the idea to import it but Chicken Tax and the huge cost to federalize it received a thumbs down from the bean counters.....

Assembled in Argentina from locally sourced parts... I was responsible for it too and sent my Spanish speaking Graduate Trainee, Crissy R. to the plant for 5 months to help keep tabs on it...

Best,
Phil

i want it!

 

[Mirage775]

I actually was going to buy a used 2nd gen Sport Trac Adrenalin AWD V8, but the market has gotten so stupid, that it wasn't feasible to do so. 200K+ miles and people asking $20K for them...

Before my mother passed away, she had 2 Sport Tracs at different times. First one was V6 and 2wd and dark red... But the 2nd one, was a V8, 4wd, Limited package and White. That one was super nice! She bought both used and they were still $20K+ back then...

There's one Red Adrenalin around town and they're super sharp in person, but I'm not paying these ridiculous prices for them....

 

[AutobotXJ]

Hi Duke,

Might not be aware, but the SuperCrew was inspired by the South American Ranger. We had the idea to import it but Chicken Tax and the huge cost to federalize it received a thumbs down from the bean counters.....

Assembled in Argentina from locally sourced parts... I was responsible for it too and sent my Spanish speaking Graduate Trainee, Crissy R. to the plant for 5 months to help keep tabs on it...

Best,
Phil

In 2006, I saw a Ranger with 4 full doors in Dublin, Ireland. I thought it looked really good and was hoping that the US would make 4-door rangers to better compete with the newer trucks…

 

[RANGER_MARC]

This Explorer SporT Trac was parked in front of Farley Ranger, my 2020 Ranger Lariat. It hit me that the only things that the current Ranger and past Rangers have in common is that they aren't Ford F-150s and the name, When it comes to size, looks, four-door availablity and sophistication of platforms, the Sport Trac is the true ancestor of my Ranger.

Funny you should bring this up. I had my eye on the Explorer Sportrac (a cool looking and comfortable Ford truck that was not too big to park) for years and, not wanting to buy used, kept hoping that Ford would bring them back. Ford did not, and so I settled for a 2017 Explorer Limited (and loved it). But when the Ranger came out in 2019, I was all over it (a cool looking and comfortable Ford truck that was not too big to park with a rocking 2.3 Turbo and a great sound system) and still loving it!

 

[4rd SVT]

PRIOR to 2019...

For me, It was my trips to southern Mexico & Guatemala...

I was always jealous when I see crew-cab Rangers in Latin America still around...

PLUS, my uncle let me "borrow" his Nissan NP-300 Crew-cab truck... I was hooked. The truck, in general, was or is the perfect size for my needs.
Knew at some point, IF a deal landed in my lap, I was going to add a Crew-cab Ranger to my stable.

In Guatemala though, the Toyota Hilux is the popular new truck and the US-market imported Toyota pickups are just as popular too...

Guatemala...

 

[Cmar]

The earlier Rangers used Mazda sourced bits and were available here in two door standard cab, two door extra cab, two and a half door extra cab with the suicide rear half doors, and 4 door crew cab setups in both 2 and 4wd.
They used the the Mazda 2.5 litre four pot diesel and later the 3.0 diesel and Mazda 2.6 4cyl petrol or the Ford 4.0 OHC V6 a la Explorer - those ones were quick. They were also available in either Mazda or Ford variants, the main difference being the front sheet metal and inside trim. They also sold a station wagon version for a while - the Ford Raider which was only available with the petrol motor.

Both versions sold well here, the only problems were the Mazda diesel engines were prone to cracking their heads around 200,000 Km and the 5 speed French sourced autos used to die just like they did in the Explorers. The V6's used to chew out their transfer cases if used enthusiastically - which I think were really designed for the 4cyl engines.

My Father had a Mazda badged 2.5 manual diesel extra cab for a few years and later a 4 door Ford auto version with the 3.0 diesel both in 4x4 setup. Both were good trucks and never gave any trouble.

 

[DakotaGuy]

To be honest, the main reason why the Explorer Sport Trac was developed is because GM, Toyota and Nissan were all offering crew cabs for the 2001 model year compact trucks and Ford had nothing to compete with them. It was too expensive because of the chicken tax to import crew cab Rangers from the rest of the world so they likely weighed the option of either developing a crew cab based off the Ranger at the time or making the Explorer into a pickup. Between those two options it’s easy to assume making a pickup out of the Explorer was easier and cheaper because the cab was already done. It was a crew cab pickup, but since it was based on an SUV and not a normal pickup truck they attempted to market it differently.

 

[Scott D]

Please don't compare the old Sport Tracs to my sporty Supercab, lol.

The lovely wife had a 2001 Sport Trac when we were dating around 12 years ago. I had to put brakes on it once a year.

She would wreck the rotors, too. That doesn't happen with her Escape, though. She's at 57K and still on her original Escape brakes.

I was never a fan of it because because it felt so top heavy and I used to say it was like driving a barstool. My car back then was a '01 Bullitt GT, so my opinion might be a little biased.

 

[JohnnyO]

I had two Sport Tracs before my current Ranger, and two Rangers before the Sport Tracs.
Officially the Sport Trac is an Explorer with a pickup bed and not a four-door Ranger.
Overall length of the Ranger is about identical to my old '08 Trac although it's noticeably narrower, about 10".
Tracs are pretty much bulletproof except for the tranny, almost all of them crap out between 100k and 150k. Even with a few fluid changes mine broke at 132k.
Mine lost a head gasket at 212k so I traded it on the Ranger but it still looked good. Head gaskets are not a common problem.
The newest Sport Trac is now 12 years old but they still have a huge following.
I was at the last Sport Trac Owners Club meet at the Ford plant in Louisville in 2010. We got a tour of the plant and lunch with the Ford brass in the executive dining room. They told us that the Sport Trac was being discontinued because the Explorer was being redesigned and they did not sell enough of them to justify the development costs of making a pickup version.
My kids are grown and gone so I got a SCab since I don't need a back seat anymore and I'd rather have a longer bed. Had the factory bed extender in both Tracs, it was a huge help.

 

[RANGER_MARC]

I had two Sport Tracs before my current Ranger, and two Rangers before the Sport Tracs.
Officially the Sport Trac is an Explorer with a pickup bed and not a four-door Ranger.
Overall length of the Ranger is about identical to my old '08 Trac although it's noticeably narrower, about 10".
Tracs are pretty much bulletproof except for the tranny, almost all of them crap out between 100k and 150k. Even with a few fluid changes mine broke at 132k.
Mine lost a head gasket at 212k so I traded it on the Ranger but it still looked good. Head gaskets are not a common problem.
The newest Sport Trac is now 12 years old but they still have a huge following.
I was at the last Sport Trac Owners Club meet at the Ford plant in Louisville in 2010. We got a tour of the plant and lunch with the Ford brass in the executive dining room. They told us that the Sport Trac was being discontinued because the Explorer was being redesigned and they did not sell enough of them to justify the development costs of making a pickup version.
My kids are grown and gone so I got a SCab since I don't need a back seat anymore and I'd rather have a longer bed. Had the factory bed extender in both Tracs, it was a huge help.

Hey, thanks for sharing this. We had a 2014 Explorer Limited and loved it. Truth to tell, if they had made a 2019 Explorer Sport Trac, I would be driving one today. Fortunately, they did not, and here we are on the Ranger forum...

 

[Cmar]

I'd much rather have this beastie....5 cyl 3.2 TD Aussie goodness.

I do! The i5 Transit light truck engine is a good match to the vehicle.

 

[JohnnyO]

I had two Sport Tracs before my current Ranger, and two Rangers before the Sport Tracs.
Officially the Sport Trac is an Explorer with a pickup bed and not a four-door Ranger.
Overall length of the Ranger is about identical to my old '08 Trac although it's noticeably narrower, about 10".
Tracs are pretty much bulletproof except for the tranny, almost all of them crap out between 100k and 150k. Even with a few fluid changes mine broke at 132k.
Mine lost a head gasket at 212k so I traded it on the Ranger but it still looked good. Head gaskets are not a common problem.
The newest Sport Trac is now 12 years old but they still have a huge following.
I was at the last Sport Trac Owners Club meet at the Ford plant in Louisville in 2010. We got a tour of the plant and lunch with the Ford brass in the executive dining room. They told us that the Sport Trac was being discontinued because the Explorer was being redesigned and they did not sell enough of them to justify the development costs of making a pickup version.
My kids are grown and gone so I got a SCab since I don't need a back seat anymore and I'd rather have a longer bed. Had the factory bed extender in both Tracs, it was a huge help.

I'm the mostly bald guy wearing the orange shirt.

 

[Trigganometry]

My company has a plant in Costa Rica. I’ve been there a few times with different projects. First time I went down there I was surprised at how many late model year cars are on the roads. It’s like a time warp. 70’s, 80’s and in really nice shape. I also had another jaw drop when they told me what new costs down there. Importing your own ends up costing more because of import fees 20K min to then pay all the other stuff that goes with it. Lots of small pickups! 4X4 down there are worth their weight in gold

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