Is a new Sport Trac possible?

[Todd Cloutier]

From Autoblog:

Q: Any chance mid-sized trucks will stage a comeback to cope with higher fuel economy needs?

A: Not much. Certainly not body-on-frame mid-sized trucks. The Ford Ranger is going away. The Dodge Dakota is going away, according to Chrysler's Marchionne. To compensate, Jeep will have a Wrangler with a flat-bed. And here is an idea we heard kicked around a new Explorer Sport Trac built off the new Explorer. If it comes to pass, look for the bed design to be a bit more utilitarian than the old one. And Ford's Farley says the company is looking at derivatives of the Transit Connect. Maybe even one that has an open bed.

 

[H D]

Oh yay! A Honda Ridgeline with Ford badging.:banghead:

 

[William Steele]

I guess thats better than nothing! But I agree with you Hugh.

 

[Bill Faulder]

 

[Bill Faulder]

Will they call it the Sport Line ?



The flat bed Jeep for me. I will install stock racks and haul pigs, calves, Lambs and hay !:banana:



Bill

 

[Robert Caffyn]

Hold out for the global Ranger. If it comes to our shores! If nothing else, I'd have to take a hard look at the Chevy Colorado(4 door, short bed) with the V8. By the time I'm ready to buy, something will be available. Bob

 

[H D]

I don't like the global Ranger either. I looked at the Colorado and Canyon before getting the ST just because I was having trouble finding 4wd, low miles and the price I wanted. Barring major, and I mean total recalculation of what they are building major, changes in the Colorodo, I would never buy one.

 

[Gavin Allan]

I would buy a Ridgeline long before I would buy a Colorado. Those things are FUGLY.

 

[Dreman]

Yeah, it's amazing that they released the Colorado to the public. But, then again, they are the same company that released the Aztek!

 

[Bill Koonce]

Several years ago I was paging through a book that listed the vital statistics of various cars over the years. I was born back when cars had X frames, were made of steel and glass (and little else), and weighed between 2500 and 6000 lbs. I came of age when Detroit and everybody else replaced most of the steel with plastic "to save weight". But the book I read showed that cars had actually gotten heavier, not lighter! WTF?!?!?



The only answer that I could find was that any weight savings went right back into the car in the form of luxury and safety items. To put it bluntly, we screwed the pooch when it came to CAFE goals by making power everything and nanny-state "save us from ourselves" features mandatory. Even worse we abandoned sensible vehicles for way-too-small, and then way-too-big. Seriously, WTF were we thinking???



The Sport Trac has gone the way of the Ranchero; gone for good. No doubt some day Ford will come up with something along the lines of the Ranchero and ST. But you can be sure that it will be a FWD POS that could get stuck in a hummingbird turd and isn't rated to tow even thin air.



For my part I'm retiring to New Mexico, where I'll spend my days Frankensteining together old but rust-free cars to my heart's content.

 

[Kevin Lang]

But you can be sure that it will be a FWD POS that could get stuck in a hummingbird turd and isn't rated to tow even thin air.

ROFL



I don't like the looks of the "Global" Ranger, and isn't it ~90% of the size of the F150.



The F150 is too massive for my needs & means, even when it is 10% smaller.



Even with stronger, lighter steel alloys that are becoming available, and with the revolution of Graphine right around the corner, I believe that we will still not see any appreciable weight decrease in cars, and--God forbid--weight increases.

Even worse we abandoned sensible vehicles for way-too-small

When did that happen? If anything, I thought that was happening now, with the advent of the tiny cube car and its ilk. (Cube, Scion, Kia) Though, humorously enough, in some regions of their native lands those cars are considered "large".

 

[Richard L]

Anything is possible. Ford could reintroduce a new Sport Trac version sometime in the future, but it will probably be a very different from the existing Sport Trac's of the past 10 years.



Ford made Crown Victoria's back in the mid-1950's and then dropped the name in favor of the Galaxy series, only to bring back the Crown Victoria name. The Ford 500 is an old Ford name and they used to make a Galaxy 500.



Chevy drop the Impala and Malibu for a few years, now they are back along with the Camaro.

Pontiac revived the GTO, and Chrysler brought back the old Chrysler 300, etc.



So yes, Ford will probably make a vehicle called the Sport Trac sometime in the future, but it will probably not resemble or even be the same kind of vehicle as our current Sport Tracs.



...Rich

 

[Gavin Allan]

Gas going to $8.00 a gallon soon- I doubt that anyone will want a truck. We'll all be driving prius...

 

[H D]

I'll ride a scooter before I drive a Prius.