Junkyard Find: 1998 Ford Windstar Ice Cream Truck

Murilee Martin
by Murilee Martin

Is there anything sadder than a junked ice cream truck? For that matter, is there anything creepier than the Boogie Man Ice Cream truck? We saw this 1974 AM General FJ-8A ice cream truck in Los Angeles last winter, and now I’ve found this unwanted-as-a-stale- Choco-Taco Ford Windstar ice cream truck in Denver.

Yes, happy Colorado children (or maybe Kansas or Wyoming children; some cars at this yard come from those states) once chased this festive Windstar, seeking Bomb Pops, Big Neopolitans, and La Michoacana Tamarindo Paletas.

Now, however, rats and pigeons snack on waxy Eskimo Pie crypto-chocolate shards.

A minivan gets good fuel economy, but seems lacking in the space needed for serious ice-cream sales.







Murilee Martin
Murilee Martin

Murilee Martin is the pen name of Phil Greden, a writer who has lived in Minnesota, California, Georgia and (now) Colorado. He has toiled at copywriting, technical writing, junkmail writing, fiction writing and now automotive writing. He has owned many terrible vehicles and some good ones. He spends a great deal of time in self-service junkyards. These days, he writes for publications including Autoweek, Autoblog, Hagerty, The Truth About Cars and Capital One.

More by Murilee Martin

Comments
Join the conversation
4 of 100 comments
  • -Nate -Nate on Dec 29, 2014

    I remember when the Windstar first came out ~ a Business Associate of mine ran right out and bought one to replace his old 1975 Econoline , he went on a great length about how great it was for a few months then I never heard about it again . Now after all these years , I begin to understand what may have happened to it . -Nate

  • Chicagoland Chicagoland on Jan 07, 2015

    The Windstars that seemed to last were the base Vulcan V6 powered models. The high zoot 3.8 V6's died early. OTOH, Quest/Villagers refuse to die. [I know they are Nissan, but built by UAW Ford workers] Ford was like 'OK here's your minivan, but get a real truck next time'.

    • See 1 previous
    • Danio3834 Danio3834 on Jan 07, 2015

      "OTOH, Quest/Villagers refuse to die." Really? When I used to see them regularly, they refused to live. The average Pillager would last about as long as their owner's patience to source out Nissan equivalent parts.

  • Dartdude The bottom line is that in the new America coming the elites don't want you and me to own cars. They are going to make building cars so expensive that the will only be for the very rich and connected. You will eat bugs and ride the bus and live in a 500sq-ft. apartment and like it. HUD wants to quit giving federal for any development for single family homes and don't be surprised that FHA aren't going to give loans for single family homes in the very near future.
  • FreedMike This is before Cadillac styling went full scale nutty...and not particularly attractive, in my opinion.
  • JTiberius1701 Middle of April here in NE Ohio. And that can still be shaky. Also on my Fiesta ST, I use Michelin Pilot Sport A/S tires for the winter and Bridgestone Potenza for my summer tires. No issues at all.
  • TCowner We've had a 64.5 Mustang in the family for the past 40 years. It is all original, Rangoon Red coupe with 289 (one of the first instead of the 260), Rally Pac, 4-speed, factory air, every option. Always gets smiles and thumbs ups.
  • ToolGuy This might be a good option for my spouse when it becomes available -- thought about reserving one but the $500 deposit is a little too serious. Oh sorry, that was the Volvo EX30, not the Mustang. Is Volvo part of Ford? Is the Mustang an EV? I'm so confused.
Next