Bring it back, Ford. We dare you. Photo: Ford Motor Company
The ’90s were an interesting time. Pogs were bouncing off sidewalks while the New Kids on the Block played somewhere in the background. Someone within arm’s reach was wearing a neon fanny pack filled with Beanie Babies and Troll Dolls. Puka shell necklaces sat beneath frosted, spiked tips. Around the corner, the sound of Smells Like Teen Spirit echoed off a wall of enormous flannel shirts. People screamed “WAAASSSSAAAP” back and forth for hours at a time. And we almost… ALMOST had what would have been the most ’90s vehicle ever created, courtesy of Ford. It was the 1990 Ford Explorer Surf Concept, and I’ll take three, please.
The Explorer Surf Concept first showed its purple face at the 1990 North American International Auto Show, held in (where else) the Motor City. Detroit has hosted the annual event since 1989, but it’s unlikely that it’s ever seen a vehicle that encapsulates an entire era more than the Surf Concept. With 4WD, a removable roof, a tiedown bar, swing-out speakers (SWING-OUT SPEAKERS, FOR CHRIST’S SAKE), and a custom paint job that apparently came straight from the Barbie factory, it was, without a doubt, the best little vehicle that never hit the production line. It was so perfectly, hilariously ugly, so functionally unfunctional, so incredibly, fantastically ’90s.
According to Ford Authority, Ford described the vehicle as “a leisure vehicle that makes getting to and from the beach as fun as being there.” Now, however, some three decades later, it is apparent that Ford completely and totally blew it. As Kyle Johnson from the NewsWheel.com wrote, “the 1990 Ford Explorer Surf Concept debuted at the 1990 North American International Auto Show, which would have been a mere six months removed from Tim Burton’s Batman hitting theaters and demonstrating to the world the true intoxicating power of the color purple.”
But as they say, fashion is cyclical, so here’s hoping someone at Ford decides the Explorer Surf Concept should become the plain old Explorer Surf.
