Quotes.. the Ford Carrousel concept vehicle which was conceived, designed and fabricated in 1973/4...... The Carrousel had a 460 CID V8 (tucked under the instrument panel in the style of full size vans those days), Thunderbird interior..... Inexpensive Program Killed Because it Threatened Country Squire....... http://vehiclevoice.com/tag/ford-carrousel/ And then they ended up with the Aerostar some years later.........
With a 460 that would be a fun van! But like the first ford minivan it was built on a truck chassis with rear wheel drive so it sort of lived on. I have to wonder how the evolution of the minivan would have changed had they produced. someone should take a areostar and make one of those.
That's a very interesting looking vehicle. It would be fun to "re-create" it. What a sleeper with that 460!
That, from what I read, was an Iacocca pet project, about the size of the earlier Econoline vans but with the mechanical designs of the later Econolines. When Iacocca was fired From Ford, then hired at Chrysler, he found a couple promising engineering projects: a front-drive intermediate sedan (the K-car) and minivan (with the K-car drivetrain). He ordered both into immediate production, because the two of them gave Chrysler two innovative designs and allowed Chrysler to meet the CAFE standards. Ford had a smaller van, but the prevailing desire at the time was bigger vehicles.
