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Minivans
3 Facts That Show Minivans
Aren't So Bad After All
BY KATE KERSHNER
"The
nicest thing I ever said about a minivan on air is 'it's your money, do what
you want.'"
That's
Ben Bowlin, co-host of the CarStuff podcast,
firing another volley in the Great CarStuff Minivan War.
Ben
(self-avowed minivan cynic) and co-host Scott Benjamin (reluctant minivan
apologist) discuss in this podcast episode not just the history of the
minivan, but their own deepening understanding of how the minivan may or may
not be the worst thing that's ever happened to cars. Conclusion? Probably not!
There's
more to the minivan story than just the tale of a harried parent trying to
stuff more kids into a vehicle bound for basketball practice.
In
fact, the so-called Swagger Wagon was a surprise hit for the auto industry.
Didn't know that? What about these three points?
1.
It Was Being Kicked Around as a Design Well Before the '80s.
Sure,
the Chrysler design (which included the Town & Country, Dodge Caravan and
Plymouth Voyager) first came off the line in 1983.
But even in
the 1970s, Lee Iacocca, then-president of the Ford Motor Company, was
working with designers on the Ford Carousel — a vehicle that looked
suspiciously like the Chrysler minivans that showed up in 1984.
Perhaps not
coincidentally, Iacocca was fired from Ford in 1978 ... and became the
president of Chrysler soon after.
2.
It Was Shelved for Some Practical Reasons.
But
let's not just blame short-sighted execs at Ford for missing the point; they
had some real constraints in the 1970’s to produce a brand-new kind of vehicle.
"The 1973 energy crisis and the
subsequent recession in the mid-'70s made the company cut back," Ben
points out in the podcast.
"Ford had to cut back on development of
entirely new vehicles, and one of their policies at the time to cut costs was
to say unless a vehicle is replacing an already successful line, we're not
going to try to go out and make a new market."
3.
Chrysler Minivans Actually Pioneered a Ton of Features.
We're
talking the first minivan with a turbocharged gas engine, all-wheel drive, an
electric option (in the early 1990’s, no less!), and seamless passenger
side airbags. (And truly, there are a lot more features Chrysler was first to
add.)
So your image
of the dowdy, functional minivan couldn't be further from the truth; they were
actually industry leaders, in many ways.
But
that also leaves us to wonder where the minivan is headed.
"Sales
have sharply declined as of April of this year," Ben points out. "Are people who normally would've purchased a minivan 10 to 15
years ago buying crossovers?
Are
they going to be buying compact SUV’S? I think that's the direction things are
headed in. But also it's not a ding on the minivans.
If
they're meant to be family cars, then it seems like their emphasis on luxury
and comfort is paying off."
So
perhaps, armed with information, we may have reached a peaceful détente in our
Great Minivan War.
Because
as Ben himself even admits about the last time he was in a minivan: "You
know what? On the inside it's not that bad."
To
solidify your own stance on the minivan (and learn how to use the word
"garageable" in a sentence), check out this CarStuff podcast with Ben and Scott.
NOW THAT'S COOL
The very first Chrysler minivan was produced on the Windsor assembly
line in Ontario, Canada, as a Plymouth Voyager, and they used it around the
Windsor campus to haul people and equipment.
It was restored as a museum piece, but at some point they
decided to rebadge it as Dodge Caravan and changed all the trim to vintage
Caravan features, perhaps after Chrysler's gradual acquisition by Fiat.
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