They always say if you’re going to go big, go really, really big. And if going really big isn’t enough, then go buy an Excursion. Ok, nobody really says that but if you like ginormous rigs, you should 100% take a look at this 2005 Ford Excursion Limited with 115,986 for sale at Illinois Motors in Cary, IL.
If you’ve spent any time looking around for Excursions lately–and we have–then you’ll know that this is one of the cleanest, low mileage examples you’ll find, especially if you’re looking for one powered by the vaunted 6L PowerStroke Turbodiesel motor like this one. It has just a few tasteful modifications, but if we’re being honest, this would be the perfect Excursion to use as a base to turn into an insanely capable overlander. Just sayin’!
The Model.
Launched in the Fall of 1999 for the 2000 model year, the Ford Excursion was built to tackle a big problem. That big problem was the three quarter ton 2500 series Suburban, and it was itself pretty massive. The Suburban had been around for 65 years, but it was growing. And growing. And growing. With each new generation of Suburban, its mass increased. And commensurate with its heft, its popularity continued to grow.
So in the late 1990s, Ford got to work to steal a slice of Chevy’s Suburban sales with the development of a heavy-duty SUV that would be based on the mighty F-250 Super Duty, a staple in the Ford family of trucks. What they created was described by Popular Science as the "biggest sport utility on the planet” and still holds the title as the longest and heaviest SUV ever to enter mass production. It was gargantuan, with dimensions of 227” by 80” x 77, it was more than 7” longer, 3” wider, and more than 5” taller than the current Suburban. It's also heavier, with a curb weight of almost four (4!) tons.
People loved it, unless they didn’t, and if they didn’t it was probably because they were environmentalists in the Sierra Club. Despite being considered a “low emissions vehicle,” the Sierra Club dubbed the Excursion the Ford Valdez, a reference to the supertanker that dumped nearly 11 million gallons of crude oil in Prince William Sound, Alaska in the late 1980s. Oh, and lest we forget the folks at TIME Magazine who in 2007 included the Excursion as one of the 50 worst cars of all time.
The times they were changing. While Ford was going big, the rest of the world was starting to go small as they dealt with an energy crisis. As a result, its first year was the most successful model year for the Excursion, with nearly 69,000 examples sold, but quickly declined year-over-year until Ford was forced to kill it after the 2005 model after becoming its lowest selling SUV option. RIP.
Now that you’ve gotten some of the background, here’s everyone’s favorite goofball Tyler Hoover to tell you even more about the merits of this cult classic:
The Specs.
To be clear, this Excursion is an absolute monster. But while it’s menacing, it’s also kind of, dare we say, pretty. It has deep, shiny black paint, aftermarket wheels, classy running boards and the interior is full of near-perfect medium pebble leather. Clean is a word that gets overused when talking about trucks, but this is one clean truck.
MECHANICAL:
- Power Stroke 6.0L turbo diesel V8 with 325 horsepower 560 ft/lb torque
- 5-speed automatic transmission
- Electronic shift-on-the-fly transfer case
INTERIOR:
- Third-row bench seat
- Auto-dimming rearview mirror
- Automatic headlamp control
- Overhead flip-down monitor
- DVD player
- Rear air conditioning controls
- Dual powered & heated front seats
- Power adjustable foot pedals
- Leather-wrapped multifunction tilt steering wheel
- Kenwood stereo
- Rearview camera
- USB Input
- SiriusXM satellite radio
- Custom tailgate-mounted Hertz subwoofers
BODY & EXTERIOR:
- 20-Inch KMC XD Series 5-spoke wheels in matte black
- Rear parking sensors
- Power rear quarter windows
- Rear privacy glass
- Fog lamps
- Illuminated running boards
