It used to seem that SUVs followed in the pickup's treadmarks: throw a top on the back of a pickup, and there ya had an SUV. Now, SUVs are having their tops removed and becoming pickups. However, once you get by the turns and twists in truck genealogy, the 2007 Ford Explorer Sport Trac turns out to be a pretty fun one to drive.

The base engine is a 210-horsepower V6 to support a payload of 1350 pounds, and a towing capacity of over three tons. The available V8 delivers 292 horsepower, giving car-like acceleration. The Sport Trac has many available options, but these quickly push the base price of about $30,000 well into the mid-thirties.

The 2007 Explorer Sport Trac, based (at last!) on the current Explorer frame, brings a new emphasis on safety to Ford's sport-utility truck offering. One of the key improvements is the introduction of the Advance Trac RSC system, an electronic stability control system with a rollover stability control component. Engineered in the late 90s at Ford's 1999 acquisition, Volvo, the RSC system addresses the biggest worry around earlier Sport Trac models.