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22 - "WEEKEND STAR" FRIDAY, AUGUST 18, 2000 'wheels | EE 19 § CARAVAN SE Auto, air, V6, rT driftwood in Sale colour Price ; EEP EAGLE LTD. 1995 GRAND LAREDO "Auto, air, 4x4, 'Boyl, pws & sale $14,005 or. A JA) 4 4 re fd | a 3 ™m A 43S ICH SF: 1V] AVARCY GH SO 683-4100 ¢ 434-1610 1993 DAYTONA White in colour, - auto, AM/FM cass., only 93,000 kms. . 1997 PLYMOUTH BREEZE Auto, air, AM/FM cassette. A cargo box rugged enough to withstand the "cow catch" (NC)-First came the hammer throw, followed by the drum-drop, rake- grind, shovel-slide and finally, the "cow-catch." Wild new Olympic events? Not quite, they're actual tests devised by Ford engineers for the new 2001 Explorer Sport Trac's rugged sheet moulding composite (SMC) plastic cargo box. These aren't routine vehicle tests, but then again, there's nothing rou- tine about Sport Trac - it's the world's first vehicle to meld the roomy comfort of an SUV with the utility of a pickup truck. "We ran all the required Ford truck tests. We then came up with a bunch of new things we thought would be typical of the Sport Trac customer," says Mike Musleh, body launch team leader for Sport Trac, Ford Motor Company. These new tests includ- ed: dragging cinder blocks across the bed floor to simulate how an owner might unload heavy items like patio pavers; throwing in jagged steel pipes and heavy . angle irons and stirring them around, and even tossing in quarry gravel that was then raked out. The result? Some slight marring, "... but since the box is moulded in black, the marks blend in with the grained finish of the box," said Musleh. Then came the now infa- mous = "cow catch." Engineers suggested that the tailgate should be able to withstand a ranch- er's attempt to load a cow into the box. So they placed a 500-pound weight on the tailgate and slid it into the bed to sim- ulate a cow walking into the box. Sport Trac passed this test too, which means it'll likely take anything its owner can throw at it. It's a pickup! No it's an SUV! No, wait, it's both... and more! (NC)-Down the street heading right toward you is a gleaming new vehicle in glistening black with cast aluminium alloy wheels. "H-m-m-m, nice new SUV (Sport Utility Vehicle)," you think. "Wonder who makes it? Wait a minute; it's got four big doors, but that's a pickup box off the back. What the heck is it?" You've just seen your first hybrid. It's probably a 2001 Ford Explorer Sport Trac - dubbed the Swiss Army Knife of Sport MWtility Vehicles -the world's first to meld the best attributes of an SUV and an all-terrain pickup truck. Often called cross- functional or cross-seg- ment vehicles, they deliver the cargo-hauling and off-road capabilities of trucks and SUVs along with the supple ride, nimble handling and creature comforts of a car. For example, Sport Trac offers: * all the comfort of the Ford Explorer - Canada's most popular SUV- with the added convenience of a pickup bed; e wash and wear flooring for when the outside ele- ments, (mud, rocks, grass etc.) get tracked inside; * a power rear window for flow-through ventilation or easy back-seat access to the pickup box ; * an optional cargo cage that pivots 180 degrees over the open tailgate to provide almost six feet of carrying capacity, and; * an optional hard ton- neau that turns Sport Trac's box into the world's largest locking trunk. And while Ford is first in the showroom with this automotive fusion, others will soon follow. According to a recent Merrill Lynch & Co. study from New York, of all the new vehicles expected to be intro- duced between now and 2004, the study says a whopping 58 per cent will be light trucks and hybrids.