The Ford Explorer from 'Jurassic Park' Turns 30 and Was a Visionary and Cool Car

June 11, 1993 marked the arrival of 'Jurassic Park' in American cinemas, a film that has become one of Steven Spielberg's most iconic and profitable films, as well as in the history of cinema in general. Thus, we wanted to pay a special tribute to this film which today celebrates its 30th anniversary.

To pay tribute, we highlight the essential protagonist of 'Jurassic Park', namely the legendary modified Ford Explorer, used as a touring vehicle. This visionary vehicle, already in the 90s, was both electric and driverless. Welcome to the world of 'Jurassic Park'.

Two Ford Explorer cars, designed in a distinctive safari style, drive towards the entrance to the 'Jurassic Park' visitor center. The only visible difference between the two vehicles is at the rear, where you can see the numbers 04 and 05 on their sides. These two units of tourist vehicles are responsible for transporting the first assistants: two paleontologists, a mathematician, a lawyer, as well as two children who are the grandchildren of the owner of the park. They will participate in the first-ever pilot tour of “Jurassic Park”.

Visitors seem surprised by the strange vehicles. Donald Gennaro, the lawyer whose fate of the project depends on the approval of the other experts, asks: "They don't have a driver?" John Hammond, the eccentric billionaire and creator of the ambitious theme park, replies: “Absolutely not. They are fully electric and move around the park on rails. We didn't skimp on the expense."

Despite this, things did not go as planned. Hammond has spared no expenses, with the exception of the salaries of its employees, in particular that of Dennis Nedry. He ended up paying the full price. Similarly, one of the explorers was destroyed after falling off a cliff, being grabbed by the jaws of a Tyrannosaurus Rex. But let's go back to the beginning. How was the Ford Explorer in 'Jurassic Park' created?

Ahead of its time: electric, driverless and with screens

John Bell and William James Teegarden were the two main artistic directors of "Jurassic Park". Bell was responsible for designing the environment surrounding the theme park, where the attractions were dinosaurs brought back to life through genetic manipulation. Early in his career as an automotive designer, Bell particularly enjoyed bringing the Ford Explorers from "Jurassic Park" to life.

In an interview with fan site Jurassicoutpost, Bell said if he had to pick one piece he's designed throughout his career, his favorite would be the SUV from "Jurassic Park": the Ford Explorer. He pointed out that SUVs weren't even popular back then, but he was proud of the fact that the most famous car in the dinosaur park was technologically ahead by more than 20 years.

First, the movie version focused more on passenger comfort than its off-road capabilities, featuring leather seats and wood inserts. In addition, it was equipped with state-of-the-art systems of the time, such as touch screens with an interactive CD player, offering information on each specimen present during the visit. Additionally, these models were self-contained and ran entirely on electricity, representing the future and present of the automotive industry as it evolves today.

Jurassic Park Ford Explorer design

All aesthetic elements of "Jurassic Park" were created by John Bell with his pencil and creativity, except for the famous park logo. The latter was directed by Sandy Collora, inspired by the designs used for the cover of the novel of the same name by Michael Crichton, published in 1990, three years before the film was released. These designs were inspired by the Tyrannosaurus Rex fossil on display at the Museum of Natural History in New York.

The logo served as inspiration for Bell to bring to life, among other things, the Visitor Center, the mythical entrance with a gigantic wooden door marking the start of the visit, as well as the vehicles of the park, such as the cars visit and maintenance, as well as the InGen helicopter. The design that Bell is so proud of is now an icon and one of the most memorable movie vehicles for audiences.

Oddly enough, the Explorer wasn't the main car in the original novel. In Crichton's work, these were Toyota Land Cruiser models. However, Ford invested more to boost sales of their all-new SUV, which led Universal Pictures to opt for the Explorer.

Thus, Bell was inspired by the first generation of the Ford Explorer to design the vehicles which played an essential role in the main attraction of "Jurassic Park": the observation of the dinosaurs recreated with perfection in their natural habitat. As co-artistic director, he replaced the standard roof of the 1993 model with a new plexiglass roof, improving the visitor experience.

Also, bumper guards were added to the front and rear of the car, accompanied by two round headlights, round optics near the windshield and three rectangular headlights on the roof. Taking inspiration from safari vehicles, Bell did a full paint job with a green base that fades to yellow, accented with brown detailing resembling dinosaur scales.

To complete its legendary look, the letters of the logo were present in a mythical typography, clearly displaying "Jurassic Park", as well as the logo itself in large size on the hood and on the rear license plate next to the number. 'unit. Two antennas were placed in the exterior mirrors to transmit the video signal from the multiple internal and external cameras, as well as to indicate the position of the vehicle during the journey.

The illusion: from the autonomous electric car to the remote-controlled car

The iconic design of the Jurassic Ford Explorer was finally ready to go both "autonomous and electric". The person in charge of achieving this feat was Michael Lantieri, who, in addition to supervising the special effects of the dinosaurs in the film, was also responsible for the physical effects achieved during the location shots.

In keeping with the script, the explorers rode on rails, reminiscent of the classic style of an amusement park. This is how they were both autonomous and electric, we must not forget that we are talking about 1993. To simulate this, Lantieri installed several kilometers of rails on the outdoor film sets, located on the island of Kauai (Hawaii).

Of course, these were all just props, because inside the Ford Explorer, Lantieri had incorporated a "blind drive" system that completed the illusion that they were moving on rails. It was a bit like John Hammond's flea circus.

"In the book 'How Jurassic Park was made' by Don Shay and Jody Duncan, Lantieri explains that we have prepared the car so that we can drive it remotely using a remote control to control the steering wheel, the accelerator and the brakes An operator would lie in the trunk with a remote control and a hidden monitor allowing us to drive the car In reality the high tech Ford Explorers at the Hammond theme park were actually huge remote control cars not vehicles electric cars. That's the magic of cinema..."

Memorable moments in the Ford Explorer

Touring cars play a central role in many scenes in 'Jurassic Park'. The most famous and iconic of these scenes is the T-Rex attack, after the characters accidentally deactivate the fence during their concert. The two explorers stopped just in front of the area where the gigantic lizard was, which came out in search of food. Luckily, Hammond's two grandchildren were inside the vehicle and escaped the carnivore's jaws with the protection offered by the SUV and the help of paleontologist Allan Grant (Sam Neil), who eventually rescued them. in two steps.

The scene is memorable with the two glasses of water vibrating to the sound of the T-Rex's footsteps, the flashlight, the eye of the T-Rex peeking out the side window, the lawyer stalking flees and takes refuge in the bathroom, the Explorer who falls from a tree during the pursuit of Grant and Tim... The whole sequence featuring the cars is full of unforgettable moments.

However, other people were there before the mayhem broke out in 'Jurassic Park'. Explorers visitors walked the entire tour, stopping at the Dilophosaurus enclosure and even in front of the Tyrannosaurus itself. Inside, memorable dialogues take place between the protagonists, such as mathematician and comedian Ian Malcom (played by Jeff Goldblum), who explains chaos theory and mocks John Hammond by asking him: "Do you think that we will end up seeing dinosaurs in your park?

Another dialogue also remains etched in our memory. Malcom looks at the T-Rex billboard and recites, "God creates dinosaurs. God destroys dinosaurs. God creates man. Man destroys God. Man creates dinosaurs." Paleontologist Ellie Sattler (played by Laura Dern) then replies: "Dinosaurs eat man. Woman inherits the Earth."

The perfect squire and other Jurassic cars

John Bell was responsible for designing other vehicles for "Jurassic Park", most notably the 1992 Jeep Wrangler Sahara, which was used as a maintenance vehicle. Unlike the Ford Explorers, these Jeeps only received cosmetic changes. They were painted gray-beige with red accents and had the park logo, as well as the unit number on the hood or wheels to match the exterior design. In addition, they were equipped with three additional headlights on the windshield.

Although the Explorer is undeniably the iconic car of "Jurassic Park", the Wranglers also played a key role: they were used by the main characters for their first entry into the park, were the heroes of a frantic pursuit with the T-Rex and allowed an escape from the island thanks to their off-road capability in a convertible version. Moreover, the villain of the film seized one of these Wranglers to escape with the stolen dinosaur embryos, but he did not succeed: he was devoured by a Dilophosaurus while he was there. interior of the vehicle.

Bell also worked on the second installment of the saga, "Jurassic Park: The Lost World". In this film, less effort was needed in terms of vehicle design, as the island where the story takes place is virtually pristine. However, Bell imagined two vehicles for this film: a motorhome used as a mobile laboratory and an impressive off-road truck, both belonging to the fictitious company InGen, founded by Hammond.

John Bell's sketch of Storm Fleetwood Southwind for Jurassic Park: The Lost World.

The first trailer was a huge 1996 Fleetwood Southwind Storm model, which had to be kept as low profile as possible due to the nature of the mission. Therefore, its body was painted in a camouflage style with green and brown tones. Being a mobile laboratory, Bell added a rooftop observation walkway, multiple ladders, satellite dishes to transmit and receive information, additional front and rear bumper guards, and a full set of lights on the roof. This design was very similar to the Explorer from the first movie.

The other design he contributed for the sequel was based on a Mercedes-Benz Unimog U 1300. This model also included the usual guards characteristic of Bell's work, as well as a scissor lift cage built into its box.

The magic of the cars featured in the first 'Jurassic Park' film has lost its luster over subsequent sequels, none of which have managed to match the level of the first installment. Even though the new trilogy attempted to recapture this essence with the start of 'Jurassic World', neither the storyline nor the recreation of the environment, including the cars, could achieve this. In fact, the most notable custom vehicle that appears in this first new film is the Jeep Wrangler from Spielberg's film, shown off through night vision goggles.