Gear

In Memoriam: 10 Cars We Lost in 2010

  • BodyonFrame Ford Explorer
  • Kia Borrego
  • Mercury Grand Marquis
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Wieck
body-on-frame-ford-explorer
Each year, auto manufacturers phase out models without fanfare, more concerned with the next new-model launch than with recalling the memory of a bygone brand. Nobody remembers the day that the Ford Five Hundred was relaunched as a Taurus, and (we hope) no commemorative plaques exist to mark the final Nissan Pulsar that rolled off an assembly line. Many models we lost this year, however, had a lasting impact on the American automotive landscape. Whether due to perennial best-seller status, filling a niche or simply Chrysler's sheer inability to launch new product, the cars that won't be seen on dealer lots and rental fleets in 2011 mostly leave us with a renewed hope for the future of the auto industry — and a paucity of material for ridicule. Above:

Body-on-Frame Ford Explorer

1991–2010 The vehicle that created a category and started a craze, the Ford Explorer survived the Firestone tire scandal, consumer demand for even larger vehicles, and millions of trips to soccer practice. It was rebranded as a Mazda Navajo, covered in body cladding and sold as a Mercury, dressed in Eddie Bauer, and even deconstructed back into the pickup whence it came as a Sport-Trac. While the Explorer nameplate returns on a 2011 model, the posteriors of drivers and passengers will be glad to learn it will no longer feature body-on-frame construction. Serious off-roaders will scoff at a so-called SUV with unibody construction, but we have a funny feeling they're not the new Explorer's target audience. Photo: Ford