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The Ford Windstar is a minivan that was produced and sold by Ford from the 1995 to 2003 model years. The second minivan designed by the company, it marked the transition from rear-wheel drive to front-wheel drive layouts popularized by the Chrysler minivans. Serving as a replacement for the Ford Aerostar, the two minivans were sold concurrently for three model years until the 1997 discontinuation of the Aerostar. For the 2004 model year, the Windstar was renamed the Ford Freestar. Although sold as part of the Ford car lineup, the Windstar followed a tradition set by the Aerostar by not having a Lincoln-Mercury counterpart, being completely unrelated to the Mercury Villager. The success of the Windstar led to the first Ford-developed Mercury minivan, the Mercury Monterey. All Windstars, Freestars, and Monterey minivans were assembled in Oakville, Ontario, Canada at the Oakville Assembly Plant. ==Development== In 1985, Ford launched the Aerostar minivan with some degree of success; while it outsold the Chevrolet Astro/GMC Safari, Volkswagen Vanagon, and its Japanese competition, it consistently remained in second place in terms of sales in the minivan segment. To better compete with Chrysler, Ford decided its next minivan would adopt the same front-wheel drive layout popularized by Chrysler. Codenamed ''"WIN88"'', development of the front-wheel drive minivan commenced in 1988 with a projected 1993 introduction (for the 1994 model year). By 1989, design work was well underway, with a concept design theme being settled on by December 1989. In 1990, the WIN88 exterior design by Camilo Pardo was frozen for scheduled 1993 production, with prototypes being tested from early 1991. Trademarks were filed for the Windstar name at the USPTO on April 13, 1992, with development ending in late 1993.〔http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1989-12-07/topic/8912062887_1_aerostar-minivan-mercury〕〔http://books.google.com/books?id=AOQDAAAAMBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=popular+mechanics+may+1991&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Y0gdU9a8Ese0qgHI_ICYCw&ved=0CCkQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=spy&f=false〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ford Windstar」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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