1994 Mercury Villager LS By Professional Test Driver, New Car Test Drive .com

With its car-like ride-and-drive, and with pick-of-the-litter looks, it's no wonder the Mercury Villager drew raves when it strutted onto the minivan marketplace early in the 1993 model year. Here was a definitively passenger-oriented van designed for ride, drive and sex appeal-a focus far-removed from the van world's usual cargo-carrying concerns. And what a hit the Villager has been. The outlook for 1994 is even better, but with a base price of $23,155, adding options to the Mercury Villager LS can become a pricey procedure. Our test version had a preferred equipment package that accounted for another $3,000 and included amenities such as a flip-open-liftgate window, aluminum wheels with locking lug nuts, an eight-way power driver's seat and auxiliary air conditioning/ heater controls in the rear.

Our Villager LS also had four leather captain's seats for $865 and a $900 premium AM/FM stereo with cassette and CD players. All told, our test model stickered out at a pulse-quickening $27,985.