Continuing the trend of being more family hauling-centric than off-road-ready, the third-gen Ford Explorer was no longer tied to the Ford Ranger. But it was still a body-on-frame SUV.
A new independent rear suspension not only offered a superior ride, but it also freed up space for the newly available third row of seats, bringing the total occupant count to seven.
The base engine was carried over from the second-gen Explorer: A 4.0-liter V6 making 210 horsepower and 255 pound-feet of torque, but the third generation brought a more powerful 4.6-liter, single-overhead cam, all-aluminum V8 with 240 horsepower and 280 pound-feet of torque.
You could also have the Mazda-sourced five-speed manual transmission with the V6, but that was only offered for the first model year, after which all Explorers were built only with the five-speed automatic.
In 2002, the Explorer was still resounding with 433,847 sales for the year, but by 2005, sales were down 45 percent from three years earlier to just 239,788 units as more consumers ditched traditional SUVs for car-based crossovers.
