The Ford Explorer and the Mercury Mountaineer are very similar vehicles. What year did the Ford Explorer start being produced?
Mercury Mountaineer The Mercury Mountaineer was a mid-size luxury sport utility vehicle (SUV) that was sold by Mercury from 1997 until 2010. Sharing many of its features with the Ford Explorer, the vehicles were virtually identical in terms of hardware. Externally, they were styled somewhat differently, and the Mountaineer was positioned with a more upscale interior, with the Mountaineer's MSRP coming in at $1,000–$6,000 more than the Explorer. It was last redesigned for the 2006 model year with a new frame, looking very similar to its previous model.
Ford Ranger (North America) The Ford Ranger is a compact pickup truck that was manufactured and marketed by Ford Motor Company from 1983 to 2012 model years for North America; from 1997 to 2011, a version was also manufactured and sold in South America. Introduced to replace the Ford Courier produced in Japan by Mazda, the Ranger was produced in two distinct generations. While introduced a year after the Chevrolet S-10, the Ranger would go on to become the best-selling compact truck in the United States from 1987 to 2004.