I found this gem in a parking lot earlier this week as I was heading inside for an appointment. The owner was not present, so I could not ask any questions. Moreover, it was gone after I came out to leave. However from the photos I captured, this vehicle is in mighty fine condition having lived in Southern Ontario through our harsh winters.
I am calling this a 1990 model. Assuming it was purchased new, the “K” letter in the license plate indicates approximately 1990 as the date it was registered. We can also assume that still having that plate means it is still with its original owner. When vehicles are sold here, the plate stays with the owner. With salty roads to navigate in the winter, and Ontario’s emission testing regimen, it is rare to find any car from older than 25 years unless it lives in a garage.
My only experience with one of these was having a ride in one when he had it back in the day. At the time I had a Plymouth Voyager, so needless to say the Aerostar was a totally different feel. One could feel the power of the engine pulling us along, but it had a definite truck like rides to it. I remember the seats and most of the interior were in a dark blue, and I was surprised at how large but also somber at the same time it felt inside. It reminded me of the ride in a GM Astro, kind of like a full size GM van feel to it. As JP Cavanagh said, “Like most other Ford vehicles, the Aerostar felt solid and substantial”. Outside the paint was a drab grey.
Let’s indulge in a little conjecture on our featured car. It was purchased not to ferry kids back and forth to soccer games and school; instead it was used as a daily driver in the summer and maybe a winter time vacation drive to Florida.
I didn’t get a size on the tires, but they look like 14 inches at the most. For the size of this van, at least 15’s would have served it well when it was new. I imagine that the back seat could be removed in these, but it would be a heavy SOB to lift. My Voyager’s seats were difficult enough to heft in and out.
Hopefully this Aerostar continues to be well cared for.
More: CC 1995 Ford Aerostar: How Hard Can it Be To Make a Minivan? (Part 2) JPCavanaugh
My father had one of these with the 4.0L Cologne V6 (though its head gaskets held up for the years he owned it). It rusted. In California. Probably this was a factory defect, as the worst rust-through was of one spot, on the hood, about silver-dollar size.
The seats were very heavy and difficult to move. You tended to settle on one layout and leave it that way unless you had some well-muscled friends and cold beer.
Yes, it rode and handled and drove like a truck. It was totally outclassed by the Chrysler minivans, unless you had to tow a trailer.
I can attest to that last statement with my 1996 Aerostar, pulling behind it the back half of a 1985-86 Nissan 720 pickup weighing somewhere around 1500 lbs. with nothing in it. Pulls like it’s not even there (I have the 4.0). You know it’s back there when you go over railroad tracks though (the load in the picture did NOT leave the parking lot; there was stuff in the van too) Hard to beat that kind of versatility on a budget today.
This Aerostar is at the earliest a 1992 model. The ’92’s received a driver side airbag and a column shift.
The Chmsl and taillights would make this a 94-96
And in 1997 (final year) the amber rear turn signals disappeared, a 1-year-only occurrence.
Great find Moparlee, it’s in remarkable shape. The licence plates are indeed the pre-1994 ‘Yours to Discover’ version. Which continued the same colour scheme, font and design introduced in 1973.
I wouldn’t necessarily say Southern Ontario’s winters are harsh, compared to many regions in Canada. They are harsh on cars though, as the temps often sit around zero, when road salt is most destructive.
Wow, not only has it been a long time since I have seen a running Aerostar, it has been a really, really long time since I saw one as clean as this.
I remember that 2 tone brown as being very popular. I remember test driving a Club Wagon in those same colors a year or so before I bought mine, and it would have been about a 93.
My guess is that an older couple bought it and kept it as a travel car. It probably sat in the garage and got used occasionally but another vehicle got the regular winter use. I have found that there is a small group of retirees who gravitate to minivans for their passenger/cargo capacity and because they are so easy to get in and out of.
Wow, the CC Effect is strong today – was just out on a lunchtime errand and saw an Aerostar every single bit as nice as this one! It was the 2 tone metallic red/dark gray. I was fumbling for my phone camera but missed it.
Meredith in The Office had a brown Aerostar LWB just like this. And it was in very good shape just like this, though of course it was meant to prove she was lower class in the show. Always a big nitpick of mine, living 1.5 hrs south of real life Scranton, is that a daily driver Aerostar that old would have been a complete rust bucket by 2005 or so when the show was set. Of course, as can be told by palm trees seen regularly in the series, it was filmed in SoCal where an old Aerostar would just be old and not rusty.
Then, this Ontario van shows up a decade hence to prove me wrong.
The wheelbase actually stayed the same (118.9″) whether you had the standard OR extended-length model, just like on the old full-size Ford & Dodge vans (138″ & 127.6″ respectively) and GM’s Astro (111″). The rear overhang is all too obvious. Oddly enough, GM actually LENGTHENED the wheelbase along with the body on their full-size vans (old AND new) and Chrysler did it on the Grand Caravan in relation to the regular Caravan.
Many years ago, a friend had one of these. I rode with him towing a car-trailer to Ohio.
Somewhere in West Virginia, the engine developed a dead miss in one cylinder. We limped into a truck-stop, where I was able to narrow the dead cylinder to the left front spark-plug. Of course the one thing missing from my friend’s toolbox was the correct 5/8 spark-plug socket.
A mechanic at the truck-stop (to whom we are still eternally grateful) loaned us his.
Fortunately, that one plug was the only one that could be easily reached from under the hood. It turned out the plug’s ceramic insulator had broken.
I put the bad plug back in. Then we unhitched the trailer and limped to a nearby town for a replacement plug, came back to change it, return the tool, hook the trailer, and we were on our way.
Over the years, the only vans I’ve seen with decent engine access have been the first-gen Chrysler minivans.
Those were, unfortunately, saddled with pretty wimpy engines – not the thing to tow a car trailer.
Happy Motoring, Mark
Our 1990 Aerostar was the 4.0L. long wheelbase Eddie Bauer All-Wheel version with an additional StarCraft trim package. During our 17 years of ownership it reliably served as a daily kid transport to multiple events, was driven on multiple skiing trips to western New York state, New England, and on the yearly family summer vacations to the Delaware, Virginia, and Carolina shores, although eventually being replaced by a Previa as my wife’s daily driver. It had more interior room than the Previa, and easily held a large roof rack luggage carrier. Wow, the usefulness.
Because of its body on frame construction, we could easily and safely pull a boat with trailer. In over 180,000 miles it was mechanically reliable with no engine or drivetrain issues. No head gasket issues for our Aerostar. Mechanically it was a champ!
My son and I loved it, my wife and daughters less so. My wife finally required ( in truth, demanded) that I buy her a 1993 AWD Toyota Previa S/C (with supercharger) which she preferred as a daily driver, while my son and I drove the more powerful, speedier, solid as a rock Aerostar year round here in Northeastern Ohio’s salt belt. The discussions as to which van to use on a trip were always interesting, sometimes challenging.
Yes, the foldable seats were heavy, but I could lift them out by myself and store them in the garage. With the seats out the interior was cavernous, and everyone in my family and also my friends used the Aerostar for serious hauling. It made so many college trips it should have been granted a college degree. The utility made it a favorite of all of my friends (male, only)! The women would only roll their eyes at the mention of our Aerostar.
Unfortunately over the years the Aerostar melted away due to the winter road salt. Even after the Ford recall and Ford paid, warranty body work, the old and new bodywork just continued to dissolve. The women in my family refused to get into the Swiss Cheese Aerostar for the longest time, especially toward the end. Finally in 2007, my wife gave me an ultimatum saying that the Aerostar was unsafe, and so with great regret, my son and I drove the mechanically sound, but body panel flapping Aerostar to the Junk Yard for final rites and a ritual good-bye. So sad an ending, it was.
I still miss that AWD Aerostar’s tremendous utility and wintertime road holding with four power driven Bridgestone Blizzaks. It was more fun to drive than the wimpy, but also long lived, solid bodied Previa, eventually replaced by an SUV.
Long live this Canadian Aerostar. God save the Queen!
Are you saying the Previa S/C was slow? Darn, a fantasy burst … I always thought an AllTrac Previa S/C would be just about the perfect road trip vehicle.
Since we owned both the 4.0L AWD long wheelbase Aerostar and a 1993 Previa AllTrac S/C at the same time, I can easily say that the Aerostar was the quicker of the two.
The Aerostar had a “heavier” weighted, almost indestructible feel compared to the lightness of feel Previa. I always preferred the Aerostar during wintertime lake effect snow storms experienced while driving on the wintertime New York Thruway. In the snow covered mountains of New England, especially when driving on Vermont 100, the Aerostar was just driver’s delight, inspiring confidence that the Previa never gave me, simply powering itself through snow and snow drifts in ways that the Previa was incapable. The Aerostar was a real pleasure to drive through a snowy Smuggler’s Notch near Stowe, Vermont, during winter.
On long distance summertime traveling for trips to the east coast shore, the Previa was a perfect, albeit, lower powered van especially with a rooftop luggage carrier. Driving the Previa fully loaded with kids and roof top luggage on I77 in the mountains of West Virginia, Virginia, and North Carolina was power challenged, to say the least, compared to the Aerostar which had no power issues. To buy family peace, we used the Previa during the summer.
The Previa build quality was unquestionably better and after 15 years in 2008 the Previa’s body was in remarkably great shape considering its 15 years in Ohio’s salt belt and was easy to sell. The Aerostar, on the other hand, sadly ended up in the junk yard.
Sorry to burst your fantasy, but it all comes down to how you use a vehicle. The Previa AllTrac S/C may have been perfect for you, but for us when fully loaded, it was, so to speak, power challenged compared to the torque rich Aerostar. Our current SUV is the best of all worlds, so you need to pick the proper tool for whatever job you have.
Vans were a lot more interesting back then. Today’s vans all try to be everything to everybody. And while they are generally very good, there’s nothing like this left anymore. If you need to tow you need to go with a CUV/SUV with a much smaller interior or pony up for the 50K+ full sizers.
Aerostars are unibody, not body on frame.
The color I remember being most common was that silver/dark blue two tone, but remember this one too. My friend Jimmy’s Mom drove us to school in an Aerostar during kindergarten and first grade, it seemed cavernous inside but very dark due to the tinted windows(possibly the origin of my current dislike for them?), and it had a dark colored interior. Theirs wouldn’t have been that old at the time and it was no where near as mint as this example, these didn’t normally age well, shame because I always thought they were cool looking vans.
I think the light blue and silver was most popular around here…but I may just be remembering the commercials.
Ah yes, the Edselstar. I had one as a company car, in short wheelbase version. Yes it rode and drove like a truck, and to this day, I curse Ford for recycling the 1970 Pinto seats in a tarted up version with armrests and headrest cut throughs. But they were the same vertical no lumbar support instruments of torture as before. God, how I missed my old company Caravan, it was a Miata in comparison.
I’ve always thought that blunt nose pretty much botched up the Aerostar’s styling, and Ford never improved it except to add some flush headlights later on – not that things were substantially better. Shame that Ford didn’t use the wedgey nose seen on the 1984 concept.
If ever there was a vehicle from the past that could use some of today’s plus sized tires, and properly sized wheel wells to match, this is it.
I really like this color. I had to settle for red. https://www.curbsideclassic.com/cars-of-a-lifetime/coal-1994-ford-aerostar-xlt-lots-of-space/
These seem to pop-up at odd moments every few months here in northern Florida. Strangely, I don’t remember the ones I’ve seen as being significant rusters, but they do always seem to have at least one of the bumpers smashed into large, hanging, plastic planks.
The phone company I worker for in the 90s has a fleet of the Aerostar cargo vans. They managed to pile up huge miles, but towards the end they developed “problems” the steering column ignition switch.
My aunt, uncle, and cousins had an Aerostar the same color brown as the upper/lower portions of this two-tone job. Theirs was a little older, ’88 or ’89 IIRC. Not sure what engine but it was a serious stripper–SWB, black bumpers, manual trans, no A/C, and probably the smallest engine available (3.0 V6, or was there a four?) They must have gotten a hell of a deal on it, as no A/C on a minivan in central Virginia was a pretty dreadful prospect in the middle of summer. Basic, but got the job done for their family of six for 10+ years. (Though later in life it was relegated to second-car status as my uncle had a loaded ’95 Roadmaster wagon as his company car).
It’s true one almost never sees Aerostars anymore…can’t recall seeing any in the past year or two.
Perhaps it was imported from Southern California where one can find many cars even 50 years olde and still rust-free.
Very rare to see one these days. Even when they were fairly plentifull it was rare to see one that wasn’t missing one or both of the rear bumper ends. Usually the left one. I recall trying to find one in a scrapyard for someone. All of the left side ends were gone.
My brother had one for a while at least until 2003 or 2004. Don’t recall what year his was but it was sculpted from body filler and had more waves than the ocean. I drove it once and it felt heavy. Probably the extra ton of filler.
I answered a phone call from him once and what started as “Can I borrow your flaring tool?” ended in me going home hours later soaked in transmission fluid after running new lines to 3 different coolers. The one in the rad and two more external coolers in front of it. I tried helping him out finding parts for it even arranging a “free just have him come and take what he needs” deal. Somehow I came across as the bad guy. I practiced saying NO in front of a mirror for weeks. I only help out those who appreciate it.
The Aerostar, above being a pretty good heavy duty minivan did have one feature that outclassed the others – sliding side glass for the second row passengers.
A friend owned one – the short wheelbase version and I liked it a lot. He drove it into the ground, too. I think it may have been a 1990 model.
To me, access to fresh air trumps everything almost every time.
True, but they also had stationary rear side glass, that were large. I liked the twisty knob venting rear windows on the caravan/voyager better.
This guy used to park next to me about fifteen years ago when I was living in this LA apartment complex as a student. Last I was back there a few years ago, he was still living there and still driving it.
does the guy still have it because i looked up the liscense plate and it came up 1990 Ford Aerostar
Was this guy your roommate or neighbor?
Either the owner has the rust proof renewed every year, or he keeps in the garage in the winter.
I see people keeping all kinds of cars in the garage in the winter, Ford Tempo, Ford Escort, Chevrolet Citation, Plymouth Sundance etc. And there is a very clean Aerostar around here too, so under certain circumstances, even a very plain car was kept very clean.
A few had “barn” cargo doors at the rear.
I know that one, probably 1/1 had a manual transmission. Never saw another.
Given that many parts were shared with the Ranger, there were probably more than just a handful with a stick. Wikipedia says they were all either cargo models or basic XLs.
My aunt’s had a stick. Definitely not a cargo model but I’m quite sure it was the basic XL trim–black bumpers, SWB, no A/C, crank windows, etc.
“A few had ‘barn’ cargo doors at the rear.”
Such as this one
There’s a farm toy show my father and I attend every year, and one of the sellers there packs all his stuff into a pristine early model Aerostar with AWD and OEM hubcaps. This year, I finally remembered to take a picture. I did manage to see the interior when the owner was moving boxes, and it was equally showroom quality. The more educated among us can probably pin down the year despite my shoddy snapshot.
Those wheelcovers are from a ’63 Galaxie!
A Galaxie far, far, away, no doubt. 🙂
Well, then, that fits, given the “space shuttle” nature of the Aerostar. I kinda figured they were off some other vehicle (though I knew it had to be a Ford because of the “crown”), because the coolest hubcaps I could find for the Aerostar were these: http://www.lov2xlr8.no/brochures/ford/86ae_19.html
Our 1988 SWB dark brown/gold Aerostar XLT was one of I think only three times I bought a new car in my life. 3.0 vulcan/auto. Mostly reliable. Radiator is one of the few things I remember having to replace. Clumsy handling, made readily evident when my ex, who had a bad habit of falling asleep at inopportune times rolled it, totalling it out. It was replaced briefly by an 84 Camry, which she also totalled. But, until then, it served us well as the family truckster. Numerous vacations and camping trips, most uneventful mechanically speaking.
Yes, the seats were heavy and difficult to pull out but I did it numerous times, occasionally on my own. I did manage to replace all 6 spark plugs from the front hood area.
Someone mentioned the seats negatively. I liked them but mine had the air bladder lumbar support which was very helpful.
I have a ’96 Aerostar short wb cargo van with the 3.0 V-6. Runs like a champ. Has zero rust.
The Aerostar is an example of how Detroit works. They bring a vehicle to market that has multiple bugs and poor quality control. Over the years, they finally get it right. The Aerostar had a run from 1984 to 1997 which allowed this syndrome to run its full course. The early ones were crap, the later ones people swear by. There are dozens of these in my neighborhood in No Florida and their owners generally rave about them.
I just lucked into the one I have.
There is an early 90s Starcraft version that my wife and I pass daily on our bike ride. The white paint and decals are sun damaged. but there is no visible rust. Seems like the owner has gotten his money’s worth-and more.
Pushing, actually. 😉
CC effect just saw this at Walmart
Old taxi or ServPro vehicle?
bonito color así tengo una camioneta ford aerostar
This rust free van reminds me of a Ford from the same vintage a friend just bought this spring. It is a 1995 Ford Explorer, another vehicle well known for rust. Like this Aerostar though, it had a perfect body. Zero rest and original paint. The one owner Explorer had less than 100K km’s and was shipped to Europe every winter, so it had never seen salt. My friend got it for a song and is now using it as a daily driver.
This looks like a 1991 Or ’92 Aerostar I thought this was like a ’97