I refurbished a van from the mid 90's
because my mother refuses to move on.
This project attempts to turn back time and right a wrong.
Back in 1995, my parents purchased a brand new green and tan Ford Aerostar. My mom's first car, which she put hundreds of thousands of miles on before it died 15 years later. She's since cycled through several pre-owned Aerostars, until they became almost impossible to find. When she couldn't find another one, my dad bought a Chevy Astro instead – leading her to a swift decision to stop driving altogether. Now she weeps for simpler times – before Ford made the "unforgivable" decision to discontinue the Aerostar – back when life was good.
I have zero skills with motor vehicles whatsoever.
My expertise with cars mostly starts and ends at driving them. I took this on as a pandemic project with the hopes of learning some things and having some fun, but I also didn't shy away from hiring a pro to do the heavy-lifting. I wasn't trying to become a mechanic. My goal was to make an old van new again, and to make it all happen within a few months or until I ran out of money, whichever came first.
I was hopeful Ford would discover this blog and just make a brand new one for me, but sadly that didn't happen. In the end though, between my own labor and simply sinking some cash, I came out the other end with something – and something is more than nothing!
It was a secret and a surprise.
I chose to not bring my parents along for the ride. Actually, they would have tried to shut it down had they learned about it – and for that reason, I also didn't tell many others about the project, either.
I also wanted the freedom to fail at this if I wanted to, without letting anybody down. So, the fewer people who knew, the better!