I own an Explorer (currently out of commision
) but its usefulness with the 4wd and it being a overgrown station wagon made it a lot of fun to own, EXCEPT for the hellacious thirst.
I could junk the thing; it needs a tranny, and the engine is likely shot. But I can't replace it with a similar vehicle with less of a thirst. So I'm planning to make a FrankenExplorer, by putting a turbocharged diesel out of a Jetta, or Golf, or what ever I can find around the 2.0L area, and designate it as the less than 55 mph and more than 20 mpg explorer. Sure it will be down on power, but not by much. The 4L v6 it had was rated at around 146 hp, 180 ft lbs torque, and that is well within the possibilities of a 2L diesel. It will be bit of a challenge, but with me learning how to build precision drilling fixtures at an aluminum die cast plant comes the knowledge to marry an efficient VW diesel to a brick of an American icon for fuel wastefulness. And at the same time I'll fulfill the christmas wish of one of my daughters.
When the explorer was running, we'd go wandering the dirt roads that surround us here, playing in the snow and mud, as well as going camping in a rather rustic campsite. A combination of the truck going out and us being a bit too busy for our own good made my daughter ask Santa for the tools to fix the "truck" so we could go camping again.
Some things suddenly become much more important when your daughter innocently asks you for such a thing.