The 2009 Ford Explorer Sport Trac is a continuation of the crossover trend, with a twist. Traditional crossovers combine passenger cars and Sport Utility Vehicles. The Sport Trac combines the SUV with a pickup truck. A midsize vehicle, it competes with the Honda Ridgeline, Toyota Tacoma, Ford Ranger, Mercury Mountaineer and Chevrolet Colorado. It is, essentially, an Explorer SUV with a small pickup bed instead of the rear cargo space.

Initially appearing in 2001 as a fun machine, more than anything else, the work aspect of the Sport Trac has been gradually beefed up. The Sport Trac still comes standard with a 210 horsepower 4.0 liter V6 engine. Now you can also get a 292 horsepower 4.6 liter V8 engine. The former is mated to a five-speed automatic transmission with overdrive, while the latter has a six-speed automatic, also with overdrive.

Gasoline mileage depends on which combination you choose. The V6 is rated at fourteen miles per gallon city and twenty miles per gallon highway, which isn't bad for what it is. With the right package you can tow almost 7,200 pounds, for which the Sport Trac comes pre-wired.

While there have been major changes in what the Sport Trac will do and in various features offered, the outside styling has, so far, received only minor changes.

The Sport Trac comes in either rear-wheel or four-wheel drive and three trim packages, the Limited, the XLT and the Adrenalin. You can get either motor in any combination. Available exterior features include a hard tonneau cover, running boards, heated power mirrors and a power sliding rear window. Inside you can get heated leather bucket seats with a perforated insert, color keyed cowhide-swathed steering wheel, message center, power windows, power door locks with two-stage unlocking, remote keyless entry, CD/MP3/satellite radio with voice activation, Bluetooth compatibility and steering wheel controls and voice activated navigation.

The Sport Trac has excellent NHTSA ratings in most areas. Five-star everywhere except rollover, which is three-star. The three-star rollover rating is not unusual on an SUV type vehicle. Available safety features include airbags everywhere, of course, along with four-wheel antilock brakes, child safety rear door locks, the LATCH system for child safety seats, SOS post crash alert system and Roll Stability Control.

It must be understood that the Sport Trac is not a true pickup truck and will not replace pickup trucks in either cargo space or hauling/towing capacity. Nor is it a true SUV, giving up both inside cargo space and passenger capacity in that category. As with most tradeoffs, you lose something on each side. That being clear, with a base price of only $25,985, the 2009 Ford Sport Trac is just what it wants to be. A reasonably priced, fun to drive, fun to own vehicle able to do some of the real work of a pickup or SUV in a pinch.