Friday, January 12, 2024

Minivan memories in teal

Haulin'
London, ON
March 2020
This photo originally shared on Instagram

It’s March 31, 2020, the early, panicky days of the pandemic.

We’re all still getting used to lockdowns, Zoom calls, eerily empty streets, and fraught visits to grocery stores where we mask and glove up as we do our best to maintain social distancing - all without freaking out when strangers forget to do the same.

I’ve already loaded the car when I come across this time capsule Ford Aerostar, an early example of FoMoCo’s first attempt to catch up in the minivan wars.

In a world seemingly dominated by chaos, I revel in a moment of bizarre clarity as I take in the spectacle of an ancient-yet-fairly-well-preserved vehicle that once clogged the streets where I grew up.

I’m odd like that, as carspotting has always been a grounding activity for me, and I remember learning the subtle differences as models were updated year to year. Even now, I see it as a way to measure society’s inevitable march forward, as automotive design, like fashion, seems to have become one of the ways we define chapters in history.

Yet in that parking lot in the earliest stages of a bewildering global event, I experienced a moment of unexpected inner peace as I reconnected with the vehicular equivalent of comfort food.

We don’t have to understand the why of it all. The only thing that matters is that each of us needs an Aerostar or Aerostar-equivalent, and we should always be both willing and able to stop and take them in whenever they present themselves to us.

I find it fascinating how an old, indifferently-parked rear-wheel-drive minivan can spark such clarity in the midst of so much uncertainty.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #throwback #ford #aerostar #minivan #american #car #carporn #automotive #opc #oldparkedcar #photography #google #pixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded


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