Minivan Number One

Summer of 1995 in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Brother Scott is overjoyed to be captured in a photo with our 1986 Ford Aerostar minivan.

Vehicle number five, our Ford Aerostar minivan. Which we affectionately called the Antichrist. Sort of an homage to The Gods Must Be Crazy. But also because it did some really weird things that we could only reasonably attribute to demonic possession. We didn't pay much for it and got a lot of miles out of it. Which is about as good as it gets as far as used cars go. The Antichrist was among the first minivan models Ford produced. And in order to get it on the market quickly to capitalize on the popularity of this type of family friendly vehicle, Ford took some shortcuts. Meaning it wasn't an entirely new design. It looked like a minivan but was built on the chassis of a pickup that was already in production. Equipped with rear wheel drive and a five speed manual transmission, driving it wasn't exactly a pleasure. Sort of like maneuvering an elephant down the road head-on into pudding. But it was reliable and roomy and it was mine, all mine for five years. And unlike the Ltd, this Ford was intentionally two-toned in color. Once its Antichrist tendencies left me stranded a couple of times it was time to trade it in. On another minivan!