Airblazer, That must be a common ford thing. I had a Tempo in highschool that did the same thing. Old ramp van at the FBO I work at: same thing.
My ride, 1993 Jeep Cherokee. 4 banger, 5 speed, 185k. Floor rusted out so I replaced with the same steel used on Humvees (thanks dad), the wind noise is crazy, it sounds like a diesel at idle but it starts every time and I rarely have issues with it other than typical 13 year old car issues. Seeing how I'm just about to start playing CFI, I doubt it will be going anywhere in the near future.