Vehicle Sighting - 1993 Ford Aerostar

[Number_35]

Guy I worked with bought one new in 86 or 87 I think it was a 2.8 v6 I thought it was a nicer van than my uncles caravan at the time .

Certainly more interior room, and better for towing.

 

[Number_35]

Maybe he should loan it to a museum hehe? The autopian has an article about a museum that has a 1994 Chevy Beretta with 45.5 original miles on it. It's a crazy time capsule.

I could see those being rented out to movie studios for period pieces.

 

[Number_35]

I had a rwd model with the 4.0 and changing plugs through the wheel wells was easier than through the hood or access panel in the passenger compartment.

Ours also had an oddball tire size on smallish rims that were a pain to source.

A friend's 3.0 Aerostar wouldn't start one cold winter day. This was c. 2002. I removed the distributor cap and rotor through a weird little access panel on dash, and cleaned them up with sandpaper.

Then I was able to pull and clean the two front spark plugs. That was enough to get it started. We drove over to a parts store, and changed the cap, rotor, and those two plugs.

A couple of months later, after it had warmed up a bit, I was able to get the other four plugs from underneath.

Definitely not designed to be serviced easily.

 

[meep]

Most of the early minivans were available with a (rarely chosen) MT option, but I haven't seen one in a long time.

I think even the base Astro was available with a manual back around '85.

For sure the early Aerostar, Toyota Van, Previa, Caravan and Voyager, and the Mazda MPV offered a 5-speed MT in the early years.

I think the Dodge Caravan was available with the 2.4 and MT at least into the 3rd generation (1995 - 2000).

We had a '90 MPV with the SOHC 2.6 4-banger and 5-speed manual. Great van, a real pleasure to drive. Revved fairly high on the highway (about 2500 RPM @ 100 kph) but turned in good mileage.

Dude. MT minivans, we had a waterbox VW vanagon with a 4MT and it was a HOOT. It only boasted something like 82HP but it had a lot of torque and got the job done.

Before buying that, my parents test drove the minivan offering from Toyota - remember those? You sat over and in front of the front wheels and it was like driving a teeter-totter. If I recall, it was their corporate 5 speed truck-ish manual. It was smaller, but far more plush and cozy than the VW. The straight 4 was tucked 75 degrees on its side basically under the front seat and there was a crank-rpm driveshaft for the accessories which were in the front… I think. One of those would be a thrill to have today!

 

[fdcg27]

We had a '97 shorty 3.0 we bought for a hair under 15K brand new.
It was about as reliable as a hammer for the thirteen years and 175K we had it.
Good old-school Ford design.

 

[Number_35]

Dude. MT minivans, we had a waterbox VW vanagon with a 4MT and it was a HOOT. It only boasted something like 82HP but it had a lot of torque and got the job done.

Before buying that, my parents test drove the minivan offering from Toyota - remember those? You sat over and in front of the front wheels and it was like driving a teeter-totter. If I recall, it was their corporate 5 speed truck-ish manual. It was smaller, but far more plush and cozy than the VW. The straight 4 was tucked 75 degrees on its side basically under the front seat and there was a crank-rpm driveshaft for the accessories which were in the front… I think. One of those would be a thrill to have today!

Ach, der Wasserboxer, ja! I love that gen of VW van. They started out as air-cooled c. 1980 or '81, and the water jacket was added around the boxer engine a couple of years later.

Yup, that was the Previa's predecessor, called, I think, simply the "Toyota Van" here.

During our year in NZ we drove a mid-engined RWD Mazda Bongo - similar idea, but the 1998 cc SOHC 4 was upright.

I liked Toyota's design - that lowered the centre of gravity, which our Bongo could have benefitted from.