By Philip Ruth–
“Keep it small, and make sure it fits my garage.” That’s usually among the first things I hear from clients looking for a new ride. San Francisco’s tight parking and narrow driveways make a manageable size the first priority.
Size is important for most of the rest of the country, though the needle typically swings to the other extreme, with an eye on securing a maximum footprint. Now that cars have fallen out of favor, particularly large ones like the Caprice Classics and Crown Victorias of yore, buyers look to trucks to satiate their dimensional appetites.
Ford is an authority on the subject, as its F-series in 2019 racked up almost one million sales and produced more than $40 billion in sales. Yep, that’s billion with a “b.” I recently drove two Fords—an Expedition Max King Ranch 4×4, and a Ranger SuperCrew Lariat 4×4—and they reminded me of the tempting appeal of tricked-out trucks.
The Expedition is based on the F-150, and so it is a full-sized SUV while the Ranger is smaller, though still quite large. My four-door tester had 126 inches between the wheels and 211 inches between the bumpers. That length puts it within an inch of a Crown Vic.
The Expedition Max I drove ratchets up the already-massive Expedition with a 132-inch wheelbase and a 222-inch overall length. That’s about 12 inches longer than a standard Expedition, and it just about matches the beastly Country Squires from the 1970s. The extra length is devoted to expanding the all-seats-down cargo capacity to more than 120 cubic feet, which is about 25 more than the ’70s wagon.
Fortunately, the Expedition Max is not beastly to drive. The long distance between the wheels forces you to be extra-aware when turning tight corners, as you want to confirm you’ve left enough space for the rear wheels to skirt the curbs. The suspension is biased toward firmness, and it gives this truck a levelheaded bearing that keeps it from feeling ponderous, though the ride can seem busy at times.
The Ranger tester had the same firmness and required similar care in navigating small spaces. Its ride was also jaggier than you would find in a car, even as sharp impacts were generally rounded off. Both the Expedition Max and Ranger stand apart from the “car-like” dynamics that are so desired in crossovers; these are trucks, all the way through.
The butch aesthetic continues inside. My Expedition Max was the King Ranch trim level, which checked out at a stupefying $81,680. (Remember all those billions Ford is making from this platform? Here’s how.) It’s a tribute to a Texas ranch that harkens back to 1852, and its logo is carved into the thick center armrest padding, as well as all the outboard seats. The $47,305 Ranger’s “Medium Stone” leather seating surfaces were more muted, and the lighter tone and shiny trim brightened the space.
Ford knows the truck market, and both this Expedition Max and Ranger SuperCrew deliver the goods.
Philip Ruth is a Castro-based automotive photojournalist and consultant with an automotive staging service.
Published by June 10, 2021
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