Is the 90’s Ford Explorer the Next Collector’s Truck!?!
Hold on to your old 90’s Ford Explorer! It might become the next collector’s truck.
Does the idea of a collectible 90’s Ford Explorer sound crazy? Hear me out.
Most vehicles go through four phases of valuation. First, they depreciate like a rock. Second, their value flatlines at a fraction of their original price. During the first two phases, vehicles get junked regularly as people replace them, or the repair costs pile up. Before you know it, most of the vehicles are gone. And the remaining ones are mostly rusty pieces of yard art, with very few remaining in clean condition.
Then things start to get interesting. During the third phase, people, usually under the age of 30, start buying clean examples. They buy them because they are cheap, because they are different, and for sentimental reasons. You start seeing these cars on social media, gaining lots of followers. People hit the “like” button and say to themselves, “That’s a sweet ride! I’d like one…” Then they start combing Craigslist and second-hand lots for these cars. You start seeing them at car shows. And the value starts to creep up.
Before long you enter the fourth phase – the Bring A Trailer phase. Suddenly you see these vehicles at auctions, going increasingly high prices. A few of them appear out of a time warp, with seven thousand original miles and command a six-figure price tag. Then hoarders and scammers start appearing on Craigslist. They ask ridiculous prices for battered examples that “ran when parked”. And they end their ads with “no loballerz, I know whut I got”.
The 90’s Ford Explorer is somewhere between the second and third phases. The market is full of cheap ones right now. You can find running examples for as little as $2,000. Good, clean ones sell for a few thousand more. That doesn’t mean the Explorer will follow the same appreciation trend.
But it might for two reasons…
First, 90’s nostalgia is on the rise. With that wave of nostalgia comes increased interest in vehicles of that era. And the Explorer is one of the most popular vehicles of that time period. It shuttled a whole generation of kids from their music lessons to soccer practice. Millennials and late Gen Xers spent large portions of their childhood in the backseat playing on their Gameboys or listening to Hanson.
Second, the Explorer is a really good vehicle. Not a standout in any one category, it does everything well. Offered two and four-door versions, it provided more interior room and better performance than the Bronco II. Many of them came with a V-8, so you don’t have to do a swap for more power. It gets decent gas mileage and tows over 5,000 lbs. And Ford offered them at multiple price points and trim levels. From stripped-down, two-wheel-drive versions, to the high-end Eddie Bauer and Limited packages.
Although the Jeep Cherokee gets credit for creating the small SUV market, and the Grand Wagoneer and Range Rover remained popular with the country club set, the Explorer appealed to everyone. Selling more than 300,000 units annually, it was a sales juggernaut. It appeared in driveways across the country, expelling minivans from school runs. It kicked the Camry to the curb, and beat the BMW as the car of choice when Boomers settled down to have their 2.3 kids.
All of these things do not guarantee the Explorer’s collectability. Chances are you won’t see ones in showroom condition go for six-figure prices. But if the 90’s Buick Roadmaster and pedestrian JDM imports can develop a following, it’s also possible for the Ford Explorer. Worst case, you buy an Explorer now for cheap money. You won’t be the only one who will appreciate it. At some point, someone is bound to come up to you and say, “That’s a sweet ride!”
Photos: Ford Motor Company
Join the Ford Truck Enthusiasts forums now!
