Many models we lost this year, however, had a lasting impact on the American automotive landscape. Whether due to perennial best-seller status, filling a niche or simply Chrysler's sheer inability to launch new product, the cars that won't be seen on dealer lots and rental fleets in 2011 mostly leave us with a renewed hope for the future of the auto industry — and a paucity of material for ridicule.

Above:

Body-on-Frame Ford Explorer

1991–2010

The vehicle that created a category and started a craze, the Ford Explorer survived the Firestone tire scandal, consumer demand for even larger vehicles, and millions of trips to soccer practice. It was rebranded as a Mazda Navajo, covered in body cladding and sold as a Mercury, dressed in Eddie Bauer, and even deconstructed back into the pickup whence it came as a Sport-Trac.

While the Explorer nameplate returns on a 2011 model, the posteriors of drivers and passengers will be glad to learn it will no longer feature body-on-frame construction. Serious off-roaders will scoff at a so-called SUV with unibody construction, but we have a funny feeling they're not the new Explorer's target audience.

Photo: Ford

Authors: Keith Barry

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