I’ve shown some Ford Rough Riders trucks, so let’s take a look at John Swift’s Rough Riders Ford Explorer.
John Swift was introduced to the excitement of desert racing by his father Ray. Ray Swift began racing back in the 1960s when the sport was in its infancy and instilled his passion for the sport in his son. John’s racing career was soon to become legendary. By 1984 John was already in the seat of his own race truck and well on his way to success. In 1986 John Swift had carefully chosen the Ford Ranger Platform as his weapon of choice for battling the Baja.
John continued to work with the Ranger platform, perfecting its performance and his driving skills until 1989 when he won both the Baja 500 and Baja 1000 with a Class 7/ 4X4 Ranger. Not only did John amazingly take both wins, but also the team was pioneering new ground, by being the first to utilize Ford’s Electronic EEC-IV system. John Swift’s success continued as he piloted his Ranger to another Baja 500 win in 1991, finishing up second-in-class for season points that year.
That same year, John was approached by Dick Landfield to join the Ford Rough Riders racing team that he was putting together. Landfield was a Yorba Linda, California Ford dealer, off-road racer, and team owner. He recognized that Ford, which had six active teams racing off-road, could multiply their impact on the public by creating a united front. Landfield brought his vision to Ford. Ford embraced the idea and brought it to reality. The result was the Ford Rough Riders Team program. By painting all their race vehicles in the same Ford colors the six teams, Enduro Racing (Landfield’s), Bill Stroppe, Simon and Simon, Spirit Racing, Swift Motorsports, and Jim Venable Racing, became a huge entity in the public eye. In addition to a consistent paint scheme on all the vehicles, Landfield had the drivers wear matching drivers’ suits and dressed the pit crews in identical crew uniforms. The impact was unprecedented.
Although John had a history of racing Ford Rangers, the Simon brothers were chosen to continue that platform with the Rough Riders, so Landfield asked John to head the Ford Explorer platform. John hired Bill Savage to design and built the chassis that you see here. John then finished the roller chassis in his shop and developed the Explorer into one of the winningest vehicles in the Rough Rider program.
Within SCORE Baja racing alone, John and the Ford Explorer won the SCORE Baja 500 in 1991, 1992, and 1993 in Class 6. They also won the SCORE Baja 1000 in 1991 and 1992 in Class 6.
In the 1992 SCORE Baja 1000 he not only won his class, but finished fourth overall which was something unheard of for a Class 6 vehicle at the time.
The Explorer uses a factory 4.0L V6 engine because it had to be the same that came with the vehicle, but this one has a bit more power than the factory engine. The engine is backed by a Ford C6 automatic transmission that sends power to the Ford 9-inch rear axle.
The Explorer runs a set of Alcoa wheels with 35×12.50×15 BFGoodrich All-Terrain KOR2+ off-road racing tires. Bilstein shocks smooth out the ride.
Inside the Explorer has a set of Mastercraft racing seats and harnesses. The dash is loaded with Autometer gauges and there are a pair of spare ignition coils mounted to the transmission tunnel.
This isn’t a stock Ford Explorer modified for off-road racing. This is a full-tube race chassis and full racing suspension with Ford Explorer body panels.
The Explorer still sounds awesome and runs fast.
John Swift and his son still race the Ford Explorer in vintage off-road races.
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