With its car-like ride-and-drive, and with pick-of-the-litter looks, it's no wonder the
Mercury Villager drew raves when it strutted onto the minivan marketplace early in the 1993 model year. Here was a definitively passenger-oriented van designed for ride, drive and sex appeal-a focus far-removed from the van world's usual cargo-carrying concerns. And what a hit the Villager has been. The outlook for 1994 is even better, but with a base price of $23,155, adding options to the
Mercury Villager LS can become a pricey procedure. Our test version had a preferred equipment package that accounted for another $3,000 and included amenities such as a flip-open-liftgate window, aluminum wheels with locking lug nuts, an eight-way power driver's seat and auxiliary air conditioning/ heater controls in the rear.
Our Villager LS also had four leather captain's seats for $865 and a $900 premium AM/FM stereo with cassette and CD players. All told, our test model stickered out at a pulse-quickening $27,985.
The Villager LSs styling was clean. Front-end lines were similar to the beaks on past General Motors minivan models, but the Villager LS seemed to be better proportioned.
Our test vehicle was Electric Red with Silver Clearcoat Metallic accents. It had standard front cornering lamps that were activated by the turn signal lever to help light our way around corners-we liked that feature.
A light panel traveled all the way across the front end of the Villager LS between the headlights, giving the minivan a futuristic look. In the back were attractive, oversized brake and reverse lights.
On top of the Villager LS, an adjustable roof rack seemed more than adequate to handle a car-top carrier.
We were pleased with the general fit-and-finish of our Villager LS. The vehicle was comparable to the latest examples of minivan evolution.
