Posted on 06/19/2009 10:24:33 AM PDT by qam1
The Minivan Celebrates 25 Years
Picture the American automotive landscape without the minivan. There was a time that no such vehicle existed here, although it's difficult to imagine. Chrysler invented the front-wheel-drive minivan that debuted in the fall of 1983 as the 1984 Dodge Caravan and the Plymouth Voyager.
Here's the story that led to the creation of this entirely new type of vehicle. As much as the minivan continues to be one of the most important vehicles on the road (over 500,000 minivans are sold in the U.S. each year), it's lost a lot of luster to the popular SUV. Where most people think minivans have become dowdy, we'd prefer to think that they're preparing for their comeback.
Try to imagine (or just remember) life in the 1950s, 60s or 70s. During these decades, families ran daily errands and took driving vacations in sedans and station wagons. Remember broad front bench seats that enabled a sedan to carry six? Or how about those rear-facing seats in the "way back" of huge wagons? Like the third rows of some current SUVs, those jump seats were the penalty boxes of the ancient automotive world, but they did enable full-size wagons to whisk up to eight passengers out Route 66 or down I-75.
During the 1970s, a new trend emerged that gave drivers another option. Families began customized full-size vans to take advantage of their commodious size.
Liabilities followed each choice. Sedans were just dull. Station wagons handled like more ponderous versions of the land-yacht sedans they were based on. Full-size vans drove even worse than the stations wagons. Full-size truck mechanicals underpinned vans of the day, resulting in poor handling. Furthermore, early vans featured awkward interior configurations highlighted by huge engine enclosures between the front seats......
(Excerpt) Read more at autos.aol.com ...
Bravo for the Loser Cruiser!!! :’)
My Honda Odyssey is the bomb. I can fit my bikes inside, it is great on trips, I get >20 MPG, I can hold my son’s entire dorm room move, plenty of room for two teenagers to stretch out in the back. Every time I turn around, I find a situation wherein my Odyssey does better than what would an SUV. My wife drives an SUV, we used to have an Expedition, but my Odyssey is best.
What yellow cabs are in NYC red minivans are in Michigan. I use my alarm button on my keychain to find mine in the Meijers parking lot, I'm not kidding.
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