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The 2007 Ford Explorer Sport Trac is literally all-new, featuring the first V-8 for Sport Trac, a 444 percent stiffer frame, a new independent rear suspension, and a host of new, advanced safety features.

These dramatic improvements effectively leave the 2007 Sport Trac without any true competition. This is familiar territory for the innovative Sport Trac, which first defined the sport-utility truck segment in 2001 by blending the attributes of a sport-utility vehicle and a pickup truck. Six years later, this successful formula still has yet to be matched.

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Today, there are number of vehicles in Sport Trac’s price range that offer four doors and a pickup truck bed. Most are simply four-door compact pickups, such as the Chevrolet Colorado Crew Cab, the Dodge Dakota Quad Cab, the Toyota Tacoma Double Cab and the Nissan Frontier Crew Cab. While these offer the utility of a pickup, they lack the Sport Trac’s modern SUV refinement and passenger comfort. The only remaining competitor is the Honda Ridgeline, which uses car-based components to deliver refinement at the expense of the Sport Trac’s true pickup durability and capability.

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Family Values: Sport Trac benefits from lessons learned on both Explorer and F-150

The secret to Sport Trac’s success is it benefits from Ford’s experience producing both the best-selling SUV and the best-selling pickup in the world. The Ford Explorer and Ford F-150 influenced the development of the all-new 2007 Sport Trac in three significant ways:

First, the Sport Trac benefits from Ford’s unmatched customer understanding, according to Barry Redler, SUV Group marketing manager:

“There is a core group of SUV owners who emphatically feel that only a traditional, fully capable SUV fulfills their vehicle needs. A similar group of truck owners won’t consider driving anything other than a truck. In between, there’s a group of customers whose needs are not completely satisfied by either an SUV or a pickup. They carry friends and family regularly, necessitating the comfort and accommodations of an SUV. But, their work and hobbies require the cargo capacity and utility that only a pickup bed can satisfy. For these buyers, only the Sport Trac truly fits their lifestyle and needs.”

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Second, the Sport Trac engineering team drew upon the expertise accumulated from building more than thirty five million Explorers and F-Series trucks. This includes adopting the tube-through-tube frame architecture first introduced on the F-150, and engineering validation using the same Built Ford Tough standards as every Ford truck.

“Every truck and body-on-frame SUV is subject to the same ‘ Truck Route ’ test schedule,” says Raj Nair, SUV and Body-on-Frame Vehicles executive director. “We subjected the Sport Trac to the same battery of durability tests as an F-350.”

Finally, the Sport Trac benefits from sharing many of the innovative and class-leading features first introduced on Explorer and F-Series. The Sport Trac’s tailgate design comes from F-150. The Explorer provides Sport Trac with a class-exclusive six-speed automatic transmission, the most powerful V-8 in its class, 10 standard advanced safety features, and independent rear suspension.

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Market Niche: Sport Trac plays a significant role in Ford’s portfolio

Sport Trac sales have been remarkably consistent since its introduction as a 2001 model. Since then, an average of 5000 people have bought Sport Tracs every month, a testament to the Sport Trac’s successful, unmatched combination of utility and comfort. It also serves as evidence that this core group of SUT buyers – like the core truck and SUV buyers – are strong, consistent force in the automotive market.

In addition, Sport Trac attracts new buyers to the Ford family, many of whom become some of Ford’s most enthusiastic supporters.

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“Sport Trac is among the highest conquest vehicles for Ford,” says Bryan Olson, Sport Trac marketing manager. “Almost 52 percent of Sport Trac buyers come from outside the Ford family, second only to 54 percent of Mustang buyers. Like Mustang owners, Sport Trac owners tend to be very enthusiastic about their vehicles, and become advocates for the company. They are also extremely loyal, as the majority of Sport Trac owners turn their vehicles in for either a new Sport Trac, an Explorer or an F-150.”

Olson, who worked at Land Rover before transitioning to Ford Division, also sees similarities between Sport Trac buyers and their anglophile counterparts:

“Actually, there is a lot in common with Sport Trac and Land Rover buyers. Both groups want their vehicles to be capable and functional, able to do anything they dream of. But, they also want creature comforts, luxury and distinctive style with their capability. They are also both like a club, a niche among themselves. There’s nothing like a Land Rover, and there’s nothing like a Sport Trac.”

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For Olson, the 2007 Sport Trac is the perfect sequel to the original.

“We kept everything customers loved about the original, such as the distinctive style, comfortable cabin, large cargo box, functional tie-downs, cargo power point, even the rubber floor covering. In addition, the 2007 Sport Trac adds a V-8 for increased capability, and all-new chassis with IRS for increased refinement and control, the most standard safety features in its class, and a long-list of exclusive amenities.”

Grassroots enthusiasm: More than 10,000 registered owners at mysporttrac.com

An example of owner enthusiasm is mysporttrac.com, a grassroots, on-line organization created by Sport Trac owner Rich Stern. The site boasts more than 10,000 registered owners, and up to 2,000 forum postings every month. In addition to discussion forums and galleries of vehicle modifications, mysporttrac.com has hosted four national Sport Trac rallies, and dozens of local meets across the United States .

Stern, an Information Technology consultant from Atlanta , originally created the site for another of his hobbies, bass fishing.

“I designed the enthusiast website programming as a professional learning exercise,” says Stern. “At the same time, I found there wasn’t a good online source for information on the Sport Trac. I adapted the framework from the bass fishing site, and launched mysporttrac.com in September 2000. People started showing up really quick, and soon mysporttrac.com eclipsed the fishing site.”

According to Stern, more than 10,000 people are registered on mysporttrac.com, and 2000 people actively post on the site’s forums, owner projects, and Sport Trac of the Week sections every month. In addition, mysporttrac.com has helped owners organize approximately 70 regional rallies, as well as four national rallies.

“The first meeting was six people in the parking lot of a diner,” says Stern. “More than 70 Sport Tracs came to our last national rally, which was at the Louisville assembly plant.”

Stern will be attending the Texas State Fair, just to see the unveiling of the new model. He also expects between 100 and 200 other Sport Trac owners will make the pilgrimage. Stern hopes that the registered owners on the website will eventually coalesce into a national enthusiast club, similar to that of the Ford Mustang.

Stern has had his Estate Green 2001 Sport Trac for five years, and has accumulated more than 54,000 miles on the odometer. Like many owners, Stern bought his Sport Trac because it uniquely fit his needs.

“I wanted something comfortable enough I could take clients out to lunch,” says Stern. “But, I also needed something to pull my bass boat with. I considered an Explorer, but an SUV doesn’t wasn’t ideal. I often fish by myself, in the winter. With an SUV, that requires getting in the water to load and unload the boat. With the Sport Trac, I could walk from the bed into the boat, without stepping into the cold water.”

Stern’s biggest concern with the Sport Trac? New car fever.

“I absolutely love my Sport Trac. It’s done everything I hoped it would, and I don’t see any need to replace it. Then again, if the new Sport Trac is as big a jump in refinement as the Explorer was from the 2000 to the 2002 model, I’m going to have serious case of the new-car jitters.”

Considering the 2007 model’s dramatic improvements, Stern should bring his checkbook to the Texas State Fair.

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