It’s been almost four months since the picked carcass that was the Rollover Explorer made it’s way to Causey’s Auto Parts in Bowling Green, and even though we asked nicely to be a witness to it’s imminent smashing in the crusher, we’re pretty sure that the mangled hull of the 1998 Ford Explorer XLT has been pancaked, shredded, and is probably going to return to my house in the form of some Harbor Freight tool I need. That’s all good, really…during the inspection process of the “mildly rolled” Explorer, we discovered that the frame around the passenger-rear door had been shoved in far enough that it would have taken a frame-off re-working to make the truck viable for use anywhere. No loss, really. But while I was roaming around the parking lots for the Woodward show, I stumbled onto this Explorer, and let me tell you, folks…that idea lightbulb shining over my head right now could guide ships in New England fog.
I only got a quick bit of the story: the guy who owns it runs an auto body shop, and this Explorer found it’s way there after getting punched right between the driver’s side doors (look closely at the lead photos and you can see exactly where.) The owner was more than happy to walk away from the Explorer, so out came the Sawzall, in went a few hundred bucks’ worth of parts, some good seats and harnesses, and enough roll tubing to make the otherwise pedestrian Explorer look surprisingly awesome. It’s a V8, all-wheel-drive example too, with just a minor lift on board to clear some modestly-sized Interco tires on the stock wheels.
How much would you expect it to cost to put this together yourself with a Craigslist truck? A quick look in the local Craigslist found a running and driving example for $750 and a nice one for about $1,500. Some blades, some rollbar tubing, and we’d be all over this baby! Kudos to these guys for putting together something out of what originally was crusher fodder!
That’s pretty cool. I’ve known Explorers could make good trail rigs, but I’ve never seen one made into a convertible before, and it looks surprisingly good.
That’s brilliant! Makes me want to find one and grab the Sawzall!
it’s a rare Ford that doesn’t make me want to reach for either a sawzall or vomit bag.