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Ford Mustang Sport Trac Might Be a Shelby Explorer We Deserve but Will Never Get

Let us face it. Although Ford’s Mustang Mach-E seems to be selling well, diehard Blue Oval fans might never accept this was the right battery-powered crossover SUV thing to do. And virtual automotive artists are not helping the OEM case either.
Ford Explorer Mustang Sport Trac rendering by jlord8 142 photos
Photo: jlord8 / Instagram
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Ford and its CEO Jim Farley have a lot of faith in the sales potential of their EV heroes, declaring the Detroit automaker envisions over 200k deliveries (per year) by 2023 for Mustang Mach-E and a production quota of 150k for the F-150 Lightning as soon as possible. However, that does not mean everyone is happy with that.

Especially since the focus on Mach-E and Lightning also means that other EVs with massive potential – like the electric variants of the Explorer and Lincoln Aviator – will get new postponements to meet current demand. Luckily, there are solutions, even if only virtual ones.

Jim, the pixel master better known as jlord8 on social media, continues to imagine quirky and cool new ways of making people regret the existence of the Mach-E crossover SUV, with a Mustang and Explorer twist of the Sport Trac variety. And no, unfortunately, this is not a revival of the Explorer Sport Trac medium-sized pickup truck from the 2000s.

Instead, the CGI expert just recycled the nameplate to present us with a Mustang/Explorer mashup. This virtual automotive artist is a regular when it comes to playing with the Explorer and probably thought it would be “interesting (to show) how many Mustang cues the Explorer already has.” Naturally, some of them are merely wishful thinking, not OEM-infused to begin with.

And it seems the CGI Mustang Sport Trac morphing quickly resonated with the audience, garnering largely positive reception (there were just a couple of naysayers) and even getting the alternative nickname of “Shelby Explorer.” That got us thinking: a 760-horsepower SUV with Explorer and Mustang cues and a GT500’s Predator V8 under the hood would not sound, look, or drive bad at all!


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Editor's note: Gallery includes official images of Ford Explorer and Mustang GT500.

About the author: Aurel Niculescu
Aurel Niculescu profile photo

Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution.
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