December 7, 2000

A Series of Compromises In Design of Ford's Explorer For Ford, the Explorer was the perfect vehicle for a baby-boom generation that believed you could have it all. People could use it as the family car, and it had the rugged image of a truck. The problem was, it also had the Achilles' heel of a big, tall truck: it rolled over more easily than a car would. The biography of the Explorer reveals how executives at Ford, under great pressure to be in on the coming sport utility boom, decided to build their entry in a hurry and on a shoestring, but with only moderate attention to stability. In succeeding years, amid rising concern about rollovers, Ford engineers strove to adapt that tippy, bouncy pickup design, but with limited success. [Page A1.] Government investigators have received complaints linking 29 more deaths to the failures of Firestone tires, raising the total to 148. [C7.]

Milwaukee Bucks defeat New Jersey Nets, 109-87; photo (M)

Dallas Mavericks defeat New York Knicks, 94-85; photo (M)

Group representing Taiwan's large commercial lenders says its members will help ease nation's credit problems by financing new asset-management companies that will buy banks' troubled loans (S)

News Analysis: Republican legislators on Capitol Hill are so divided that if George Bush becomes president, he may have to worry first about uniting them before making deals with Democrats; in House, Rep Tom DeLay, majority whip, all but dared Pres Clinton to shut down government in fight over spending; DeLay's nominal superior, Speaker J Dennis Hastert, would prefer to compromise with Clinton; in Senate, establishment conservatives hold onto all leadership positions, though vote for policy committee chairman is only 26 to 24; other major difference, reflecting fault line among 50 Senate Republicans, is over how conciliatory to be toward 50 Senate Democrats; Sen Pete V Domenici is among conciliators; Sen Larry E Craig, more conservative than Dominici, holds that with Dick Cheney available as vice president to cast tie-breaking votes, Republicans could look forward to being majority that does not have to concede much; photos (M)