Bad enough that Johnny Carson had to retire. Tougher yet--for men, anyway--when MadisonAvenue's idea of maturity forced Cheryl Tiegs off magazine covers.
Considering all the emphasis on youth in America, it's nice to know a few traditions
remain untouched, such as that roomy old reliable, the Ford Aerostar minivan.
It's a big minivan with a folksy ambience--a family dinner table on wheels--and except
for the welcome tweak here and there, not a lot about the Aerostar has changed in
recent years.
Except, of course, its life expectancy.
Ford was all set to put the Aerostar to sleep a couple years ago, when the front-drive
Windstar emerged as the company's slick new family hauler. Understandably, Ford saw
little reason to keep a loveable old lug like the Aerostar around.
Still, Aerostar's charm then and now is that it possesses some of the broadest
shoulders in the marketplace. It's a rear-wheel-drive horse that can haul loads and
hold lots of people. Had Ford carried out its plans, families galore would have been
as disappointed as a militant majority of Ford dealers, who lobbied hard to keep the