NHTSA opens probe into 1.2 million Ford Explorers over airbag burns

The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened a preliminary evaluation into roughly 1,236,155 Ford Explorer SUVs from the 2021 to 2026 model years after occupants suffered burns when a front seat-mounted side airbag deployed. The agency has logged 11 incidents, 10 of which produced second- or third-degree burns serious enough to need medical treatment.

Ford has not issued a recall, and a preliminary evaluation does not guarantee one will follow. The review is at the fact-finding stage, before the agency decides whether a defect exists across the fleet.

What the investigation covers

The probe names six model years of the Explorer, all built with the same side airbag design now under review. The component in question is the seat-mounted side airbag in the front row, not the steering-wheel or curtain airbags, and NHTSA says it has no indication the issue extends to rear seating positions or to other front airbags.

The agency's opening summary states that its Office of Defects Investigation received reports from owners and from the manufacturer of burn injuries after the front seat-mounted side airbag deployed in crashes involving these Explorers. The filing describes the injuries as second- or third-degree burns requiring medical treatment.

Against a population of more than 1.2 million vehicles, 10 injury cases work out to about 0.00089 percent of covered Explorers. That ratio is the tension at the centre of the case: the injury count is tiny in absolute terms, but burns of that severity from a device meant to protect occupants are the kind of complaint that pushes a preliminary evaluation open quickly.

No recall, and no statement from Ford

A preliminary evaluation can end in several ways. NHTSA may close the review without further action, escalate it to an engineering analysis, or move straight to a recall request if Ford's own data points that way.

Ford has not issued a public statement addressing the specific burn complaints described in the filing. The Explorer has drawn other regulatory action this year, including a rear suspension fracture recall and a separate roof rail recall, both unrelated to this airbag inquiry.

Owners who want to check whether a particular vehicle identification number carries any open action can search NHTSA's recall lookup tool directly, since the agency's database updates as filings like this one progress.

For now the practical position for Explorer owners is unchanged: no fix has been ordered, and the question of whether the airbag design constitutes a defect is still open. The scope of any remedy, if one comes, has not been announced.

The final Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Stirling Moss ever built will cross the auction block with an estimate above $6 million, RM Sotheby's has confirmed. The sale runs from November 26 to December 3, 2026, and the car shows just 32.9 miles from new.

It is the last of only 75 Stirling Moss examples that Mercedes-Benz and McLaren assembled between June and December 2009, and the only one of that run built without a windshield, side windows or a roof.

A 650 hp send-off with almost no miles

The Stirling Moss packed a supercharged 5.4-litre V8 rated at 650 hp, with Mercedes claiming a 3.5-second sprint to 60 mph and a 220 mph top speed. This particular chassis left the factory in December 2009 and has covered 32.9 miles since.

That mileage, plus a paper trail stretching from Switzerland to Kuwait to the United States, is the kind of documented history that is rare even among seven-figure collector cars. The car was first registered in the canton of Vaud on March 16, 2010.

Royal ownership and a one-off specification

The car was delivered new to the Royal Family of Kuwait, who kept it until the current consignor acquired it in 2024, making for just two private owners over its life. It wears Fire Opal Red paint, a shade applied to only a handful of Stirling Moss cars, with red leather and yellow contrast stitching in a scheme the factory called Silver Arrow.

Unusually, it also left the factory with an audio system, a feature shared with only one other car in the run, the Rosso Corsa example that has stayed with Jordan's royal family since new. Alutex textile composite replaces the usual carbon fibre trim, and the brake calipers are finished in gold rather than the standard red or silver.

That level of personalisation on a model already rarer than most limited-run hypercars is part of what bidders will be paying for, and the Jordanian car's likely permanent residence in a royal collection leaves this one as the more attainable of the two special-order cars.

How a roofless supercar became road legal in the US

None of the 75 cars were built to US specifications, and the absence of a windshield and conventional glass put the model outside standard federal safety requirements. Owners have used the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Show or Display provision, introduced in 1999, to permit limited road use for rare vehicles of historic or technical significance.

This car has been fully federalised and road registered in the US, with the work carried out by G&K Automotive Services in 2026. For American buyers, that paperwork removes the biggest practical obstacle to actually using a Stirling Moss rather than storing it, which is the difference between a static collectible and a car that can be driven, however sparingly.

What the $6 million figure does and does not mean

The $6 million-plus number is RM Sotheby's pre-sale estimate, not a confirmed sale price, and the final figure will only be set when bidding closes on December 3, 2026. If it lands at or above that level, the car would rank among the more valuable examples to cross the block.

Mercedes-Benz and McLaren have not announced any further production of the Stirling Moss, so this auction is a chance to buy the last one they ever built on the platform rather than a preview of anything new.