Been looking for a low-mileage Excursion, but haven’t found one? Try searching listings in UAE next time.
How do you say “barn find” in Arabic? Normally, we wouldn’t ask because people typically make huge barn finds (cool forgotten vehicles that haven’t been on the road in years) in sheds and, you know, barns in places like Ohio or Nebraska. But this isn’t your typical barn find. This treasure trove was discovered in the UAE (United Arab Emirates).
There’s another reason this discovery is unique. We’ve seen pictures of several hypercars abandoned in the Middle East over the years – a dust-covered Jaguar XJ220 here, a Ferrari discarded like a rusted ’89 Civic with a blown head gasket there. But every vehicle in these pictures we found in a post on the Facebook group “Excursions Only” is a – you guessed it – Ford Excursion. According to the group member user who put them up, David Chambers, all of those sheets of plastic are covering eight V10-powered Excursions and two Power Stroke diesel models. Judging by the chrome-barred grilles, these seem to be 2005 models, which means the diesel rigs have the 6.0-liter Power Stroke power plant under their hoods.
Aside from the plastic shrouds, jack stands are being used to prevent time from taking too much of a toll on these beyond-full-size SUVs. We don’t know how long these Excursions have been sitting, but given that Chambers referred to them as having “Zero mileage,” the jack stands are kind of pointless now. If these were squirreled away shortly after they were manufactured, their tires are roughly 15 years old. By now they’re so old that flat spots are irrelevant. If someone plans on safely taking one of these big beasts out on public roads any time soon, they’ll need to replace the tires, anyway. And a thorough refresh of the fuel system, including a total dump of the tank, would be a great idea.
As of right now, this cache of Blue Oval brawn is not for sale, according to Chambers. That’s too bad. From the looks of the responses to the Facebook post, there are plenty of people out there interested in buying one (or all) of these neglected Excursions and having it shipped to them all the way from the UAE. That raises another question: How do you say “It’ll cost you an arm and a leg” in Arabic?
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
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