When Eddie Bauer declared bankruptcy this week, the first thing I thought of were those old Fords. In a lot of ways, they were the precursor to true luxury SUVs, an off-roader with a bit of class. That dark green EB Explorer may actually be the most purely 1990s car.
My parents got a 2nd gen Explorer on a deep discount as a "hail car" and ended up with a series of them, until the last one they had a few years back was a bit of a lemon. The first one was great, though. The first couple of generations were handsome and understated, from the 2000s on they've constantly evolved to become bloated and porkier. Ford seems to have learned, though, the Bronco Sport is essentially what the early Explorers were, and sure enough my folks recently got one of those and love it.
