Customized Ford Explorer

The Customized Ford Explorer was a Ford Explorer that was custom built by Thorne Mobile Field Systems for Doctor Richard Levine's expedition to the Lost World.

Specifications
In preparation for the likelihood of seeing dinosaurs, the vehicle was built to take massive stresses. It was equipped with a monitor that could view video feeds from the Fleetwood RV Mobile Lab and like the rest of the expedition's vehicles, was electric-powered instead of gas powered, making the engine nearly silent. The vehicle had black photovoltaic panels to recharge the batters and the newest lithium-ion batteries from Nisan which were more light-weight than most batteries and experimental. Out of worry over the possible dangers to the car's systems and with Jack Thorne unwilling to add backups in such as a small gas-powered generator, Eddie Carr added his own secret modifications to the vehicle in case something went wrong such as circuit breakers that could restore the Explorer to working order after a short-circuit. The Electronic Motorcycle could be mounted on the Explorer and charged from it if need be.

The Lost World novel
After the disappearance of Doctor Richard Levine to Isla Sorna, Ian Malcolm, Eddie Carr and Jack Thorne followed with the equipment Levine had ordered for his expedition, including the Explorer. They were secretly joined by Arby Benton and Kelly Curtis and then later by Sarah Harding.

Throughout most of the expedition's time on the island, the Explorer was their main mode of transport alongside, occasionally, the Electronic Motorcycle while the Fleetwood RV Mobile Lab was left stationary to act as a base. At one point, a male Tyrannosaurus rex defecated on the hood of the vehicle.

During the Tyrannosaur attack on the trailers, Thorne attempted to use the Explorer to reach the trailers from the High Hide. However, when he drove the vehicle through a deep puddle, it suffered a short circuit from the water, causing an explosion under the hood, the radiator to send out acrid smoke and the vehicle to stop dead just beyond the puddle. With the Explorer essentially dead, Thorne abandoned the vehicle and soon after appropriated Lewis Dodgson's abandoned Jeep Wrangler.

After the Jeep was destroyed in the Worker Village by Maiasauras, Thorne wondered aloud about how the Explorer would've faired under the stresses that destroyed the Jeep. Needing to reach the clearing before the helicopter coming to pick them up arrived, Sarah remembered they had the Explorer as well as the Jeep, but Thorne insisted that the car was dead because of the short-circuit. Though Thorne admitted to not usually adding circuit breakers to his vehicles, he remembered that Eddie Carr did add them in secret and realized that if they could reset the breakers, they could get the Explorer running again.

With time running out, Sarah set out to retrieve the vehicle, only to find it surrounded by Pachycephalosaurus. An attempt to reach it through the trees caused Sarah to fall underneath where Thorne directed her to a set of circuit breakers near the front wheels. Resetting them, Sarah was able to repair the car, but it was found by Dodgson who attempted to steal it to escape. However, he was interrupted by Sarah and then a Tyrannosaurs forcing them into hiding together. When the dinosaur could smell them hiding under the Explorer, Sarah pushed Dodgson out which caused the Tyrannosaurs to take him and leave.

With the Explorer repaired, Sarah raced to the location where the helicopter was landing, but was too late and it left. Sarah began returning to the Worker Village and picked up the others after they escaped a Velociraptor pack. The Explorer was used a final time to reach the island's boathouse and was then abandoned on Isla Sorna in favor of using the boat to escape.