Living for just a little over a decade, the Aerostar is a minivan that was crafted and sold under the umbrella of the Ford Motor Company. It is a rear wheel drive minivan that can be easily distinguished from the other minivans. It is quite something for it utilized a modified pickup truck chassis for its body. Compared to the Ford Taurus, the Ford Aerostar looks very similar. One interesting fact is that the Ford Taurus and the Ford Aerostar were introduced by the automobile company the same year. In 1990, this minivan was given the Motor Trend magazine's Truck of the Year award. In 1992, the Ford Aerostar was on its way to success. Production was excellent, thus gaining another award for the assembly plant of the vehicle. The Q-1 status award was bagged by the plant and this award is considered as a very prestigious certificate. As per the humble beginnings of the Ford Aerostar, this vehicle actually came into being when Ford decided to compete with Chrysler. Chrysler has dominated the minivan category that time and Ford wanted to take a piece of the action. The original Ford Aerostar was introduced bearing a 2.3 liter engine that had 4 cylinders. It had the capacity to produce 88 horsepower. Of course, through the Ford Aerostar's lifespan, this has also been changed and upgraded. It also had the capacity to take in a maximum standard passenger capacity of five people. The design of the Chrysler minivans was not exactly matched by the Ford Aerostar. The difference was that the Ford Aerostar boasted a rear wheel drive while the Chrylser vehicles were proud of their front wheel drive minivans. This difference in design made the Ford Aerostar come with more power and more capability in terms of its capacity in hauling and towing heavy loads. Due to this, the Ford Aerostar had lesser interior space. However, this limitation was overseen for the Ford minivan boasted more power than its rivals. Come 1997, this minivan was dropped out of the Ford manufacturing line and was then replaced by the Ford Windstar. Changes were constantly done to the Ford Aerostar. In 1991, the minivan had a new sport appearance package added in for the regular-length XL. The XLT trim level included forged alloy wheels and silver body accents that included a front air dam and side running boards. The following year, the minivan's dashboard received redesigned headlamps and climate controls. Made standard were high-back front buckets. Outboard seats in the rear of the Ford Aerostar got lap and shoulder belts. Also added in were a new grille and flush aero headlamps. Other changes included optional integrated child safety seats, a high mounted third brake light, side-impact beams, a four speed automatic transmission with electronic shift controls, larger radio buttons, optional premium sound systems, optional auto-climate systems with new air conditioning controls, and a 4.0 liter engine. |
