Yuck. I hate those 'euro vans' like the Transit. They just look wrong in the U.S. like a strong wind will just topple them over. Transits and their older predecessor which was uglier, the Transit Connect (as well as the Dodge "sprinter") started infiltrating my area around 2010, and now proliferate since Ford stopped making the E-series vans. The only marque left which produces a real American van is Chevrolet who makes the Express. In 1993 another van was the top junk and called the Ford Aerostar. Those had a bad habit of their transmissions exploding their guts all over the road once the warranty expired.
Then there was the GM "Dustbuster" van era of the same time, early to mid-1990s. The Pontiac Trans-Sport, Olds Sillohuette, and Chevy Lumina APV. They might have looked like the 'future' in 1993 but age poorly:
I'm sure they fit right in though in the UK where they come from. They're only Ford in name only. About as 'American' as the long-gone Cadillac Catera which was just a rebadged german car called the Opel Omega.
I'd be happy if I could just exist in 1963 instead of 2023. I don't even consider the 1990s as vintage. Vintage should be from the 19th century or earlier to around the mid 1970s. Nothing made after is meant to last long enough to be remembered fondly. I doubt in 20 years anyone will care about restoring a 1994 Mercury Topaz or a 2001 Mercury Mistique (the infamous Mercury "Mistake") as if they were a '57 Chevy or a OG VW Beetle.
The 1990s especially the early-to-mid were also full of boring homogenization, mostly in interior design (oak everywhere must be oak!) technology (charcoal grey was a common colour in stereos and TV sets) and overall it was a rehash of the late 1980s with no direction until around '96 or so. I was happy when that era ended and 2007 began and up until 2013 it looked like a bright future but then the modern homogenization happened and shows no sign of slowing. Soon as K-mart, Bradlee's, Woolco, and Ames all died off to be replaced with the 'future' known as Wal-mart and Target, I knew it was over. I'm just sick of living in this era. This time is intentionally designed to be frustrating, inconvenient, and eye-straining all in the name of 'security, greater good, or solving climate change'. I'm fed up with it. I'm sick of having my retinas seared by LEDs and HID lamps, or all the cars looking the same, (many which have names I don't even recognize) and tech being all boring and featureless. Everything is run by a corporation instead of an individual. Give me Sam Drucker's General Store from Green Acres any day over a Target, Whole Foods or Kroger.
