You have to be either the biggest jokester on the planet or a very cool influencer to do what someone has done to an innocent mini van. And then you’d have to have a lot of cheek to sell that 1992 Ford Aerostar as a rolling chassis, ie. without engine or transmission. But someone’s doing it, putting what looks for all the world like monster truck underpinnings under the van to lift it high enough that you’d need to use a ladder to get in. If adding running gear to such a project is your kind of jam, then gather together a flatbed and $12,500 bucks to make this yours. Find a way to get to Manchester, PA after reviewing the ad here on facebook, and good luck to you. Jack M was our tipster on this one, so wave hello to him and call out your thanks.
This is indeed a marriage of opposites. The Aerostar was a mini van offered at the height (not a pun) of popularity of such vehicles, 1986-1997. It was, interestingly enough, offered mostly as RWD (not a front-driver) and in some AWD configurations. Engine sizes were from 2.3 liters to 4.0 liters of displacement. Those of you who remember the pre-SUV era will remember items like this Ford along with Chrysler Town and Country vans and Chevy Astro vans filling the parking lots of soccer fields and big-box stores in the above-mentioned era. None of that matters here, though. This Aerostar has a Ford F-250 chassis from the 1970s as its underpinnings, along with what sound like solid and well-chosen suspension components including Rockwell two-and-a-half ton axles, and here’s a clue as to the engineering: both front and rear ends feature front axles, narrowed, which infers that someone who knows how to engineer a home-built project is the father of this assembly. You can see for yourself in the accompanying images, which also make the point that this van is, well, tall. Those of you with engineers’ eyes can report in on the quality of this build based on what you see.
The ad says it has been driven 999,999 miles, obviously just an easy way to fill in a check-box task when writing up the ad. In truth, good news: the enormous tires are like new. Of course, that means the project stalled short of running gear. This buggy used to run a Chevrolet small-block, apparently, and it still has hydraulic steering components and a divorced 205 transfer case. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that that won’t be the only thing that’s divorced when this project turns up in its new home. Possibly the presence of an aluminum radiator and aluminum fuel cell, which are part of the deal, will mitigate the sticker shock that getting this idea to actual drive-down-the-road status will engender in other members of the new owner’s family.
Can you see yourself sinking $25 grand into this project? Or maybe you have a suitable Chevy 350 (let’s just say) sitting around waiting to motivate a new vehicle, and this project is something you’ve never thought of but are intrigued by nonetheless. Are you just someone who likes a challenge? There must be other reasons why you would even look at an ad like this. None of them probably make much sense to an outsider, but we’ve all got our dreams. Maybe you’re the kind of person who likes it when people at cruise night say things like, “I never would have thought of doing something like this!” To each his or her own reward.
I love this car! Wish I had the money, space, and a good reason to buy such a toy.
Monster Jam, here I come!
Tow it out into the woods. It would make a great deer stand.
Not my Cup of Tea !
Jack-asstro.
This van cries out for a Ford Godzilla V-8! And a 6ft aluminum ladder…
That’s a 7.3 liter Gasoline Engine that will generate up to 430 horsepower and 485 lb-ft of torque. Is that gonna be enough to power the wheels on this truck?
You taking it drag racing?
Godzilla is a boat anchor, have a fleet of them, 3 engine failures so far, 2 under 60k miles the most recent one at 150k miles. Junk
Get a Dodge, then.
How practical, and useful.
Tires and rims slightly larger than the factory awd model 💁♂️
When I mention someone waisting their time and $$$$$, this is the perfect example. And look, they couldn’t even finish it! Need I say more, I don’t think so.
Looks like something built only in
Florida! Down here, they’ll slide a
4-wheel Drive setup under most
anything to get stupid and get attention. When my wife and I moved here 40 years ago, there was this VW beetle running around town on a chassis as tall as this one. And as I recall, it had
a 454 rat motor mated to an automatic transmission. Talk about bizarre, that thing was it!
Turns out it was built by Speiker’s
Custom 4X4 in Elouise Florida.
This same gentleman also had 2
’68 Cadillacs (gasp!) that he mounted on 4X4 chassis’s using
the 472 in each car and a beefed up T-400 gearbox to get them moving. One was a hearse and the other was a limo. It was said
that redneck teenagers could actually rent the limo to take them to the Prom if they didn’t quit school first. Both cars were
painted hot pink and had the company’s logo on them. And then, if that wasn’t enough, he built a monster version of a 1946
Diamond T fire truck! It too was
hot pink with all the firefighting
accoutrements on it. I can tell you first hand that it was quite a
sight to see one of those rigs coming down the road. I saw him
RUN OVER A NEW CORVETTE WITHOUT CRUSHING IT! The rig
sat so high up that the driver didn’t see it. I damned near 💩
my pants when I saw that and I’ll
bet the guy in the Vette did too!
Well, all weird things must come to an end, and his shenanigans
came to an end when the Feds raided his shop and nailed him for drug trafficking, tax evasion,
and a few other charges I can’t recall right now. It’s been about 40 years ago now, but I still can
see the FBI, ATF, and the IRS agents as they swarmed over the
building looking for stuff to send
that fool to prison for a long, long
time. Just add a built 460 to this
thing along with a beefed up C-6
tranny, and then go out and scare
the 💩 out of other drivers on the
freeway! And here it is folks! The
all new Mr. Monster Truck Lift Kit
by Ronco! Makes a great Christmas gift! Order yours today!
There is a stretched Lincoln Town Car limousine in my town, jacked up like this on a big monster truck chassis.
Weebles wobble, but they don’t fall down… But this thing looks like it’s ready to tip over standing still…
Manchester PA is very close to York PA and back in the day there were several well known 4X4 shops in this area. One of them was Quigley (spelling?). They were a company that converted brand new vans to 4X4.
There is a very lifted 4X4 Areostar van in the Bigfoot family. As I recall they also produced one with tank treads.
Stupidmobile. It’s a shame too, that Aerostar looks pretty clean.
How owuld you get in?
If only it were street legal, it would be a beautiful business vehicle.
Mr. Mustang: I like this response, and your other one re could/should. I laughed out loud for that one. What I wonder is, what kind of business were you thinking of? Surely not dry cleaning delivery.
Brian
I hadn’t thought of dry-cleaning, though that would be good. What I was thinking was a commercial office cleaning vehicle. What would you call your cleaning business at that point?
What else do you do with an Aerostar? It’s either this or a heavy coffee table.
We had a ’93 extended one,& it was a really good vehicle.
There’s still a lot of them driving around here in Roanoke.
Is this the Bigfoot Shuttle with a different paint job?
And let me be the first to say, just because you CAN do something, doesn’t mean you SHOULD.
I’ve seen all sorts of crazy lifts on Aerostar 4 x 4s – there are groups dedicated to these. But, this one takes the monster-sized cake.
Another good candidate for Elon to take into Space and release to the wild beyond!
It will likely take our Earth 🌍 off their places to visit in the future 😂👀😗
Elon we have another auto for your payload to release in outer space!
Aliens will cross off our world from their list after viewing its craftsmanship 😛😗😂
What else are you gonna do with a Goobermobile????
Top speed?
A danger to society.
I really think this is a good second life for an unprepossessing minivan. I, personally, think it looks better this way.
This has to be one of the top contenders for Barn Finds Stupidity of the Year Award. There are so many reasons this is just wrong. $12500? Maybe $1250 if they are lucky.
May be time to bring back the thumbs down button.
Looks like a potential track car to me. Great for those fast tight curves. People on the track would keep their distance, an added bonus.
How much money do you think the owner has wrapped up in this thing, alread
$50-$75,000 to finish it.
Over the years I’ve seen this done to a lot of cars. Camaros, Mustangs, El Caminos. I’ve even seen igt done to a 4 door Caprice. But this one is one of the cleanest builds I’ve ever seen. Kudos to the builder(s)
As mentioned earlier, just add a 460/C6 combo. Hold my beer.
I remember seeing one of these things at a car show in Williams Grove in Mechanicsburg PA I don’t know if it was this one or not but it did not have enough power to get it up the trailer ramp at the end of the day and five or six guys were trying to push it.
I think I’ll just stick with my 94 Eddie Bauer Aerostar the way it is.