1996 Ford Aerostar Rear-drive virtues in a solid survivor. By Lynn Henning, New Car Test Drive .com

Bad enough that Johnny Carson had to retire. Tougher yet--for men, anyway--when Madison

Avenue'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

Aerostar in the family. The dealers didn't want potential customers heading off to

General Motors for Chevy Astros and GMC Safaris, the Aerostar's key competitors.

So, here it is again in '96. Big and pleasantly bulky. Long, especially in the long

wheelbase model, and offering some of the best legroom of any vehicle this side of a

rock star's road bus. But it's also good-looking and pleasant to drive, a maxi minivan

that delivers family-solid, meat-and-potatoes service covering a broad range of

duties.