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Minivan

A modern minivan - 2004 Chrysler Town & Country

Typical early minivan (a Dodge Caravan)

A minivan, people carrier, multi utility vehicle (MUV),or multi purpose vehicle (MPV) is a type of vehicle which has a body that resembles a van, but which has rear side doors, rear side windows, and interior fittings to accommodate passengers similar to a station wagon. Minivans are higher than normal sedans, compacts and station wagons, and are designed for maximum interior room; minivans often feature three seat rows and can seat 7 people or more.

The original "Minivan" was developed by Volkswagen in about 1950 with the Volkswagen Type 2 "Minibus" and varients. The VW Type 2 had a rear engine and rear-wheel drive. VW currently makes a modern varient with a front engine and front-wheel drive which is very similar to the vehicles discussed below. In 1952 the Lloyd Motoren Werke, Bremen (a brand of the Borgward Group) introduced their Lloyd LT (Picture), that was, in retrospect, even closer to the minivan of nowadays.

The modern revision design was developed simultaneously in the late 1970s and early 1980s by Chrysler UK/Matra (launched by Renault as the Espace) and the Chrysler Corporation. Minivan is the more usual term in North American English whilst the other two terms predominate elsewhere in the English speaking world. In India, however, the acronym used is MUV, in line with a similar acronym, SUV.

History

Minivans were launched to the market almost simultaneously by Chrysler (Dodge Caravan) in late 1983 and by Renault (Renault Espace) in 1984. Though these two cars were developed almost entirely separately, they can each trace their roots back to the same point: the minivan design was originally conceived in the late-1970's by Chrysler UK in partnership with the French manufacturer Matra (who were also affiliated with Simca, the former French subsidiary of the Chrysler Corporation, who were sold in 1977 to the PSA Group (Peugeot-Citroën). The Chrysler-UK/Matra design was originally intended to be sold as a Talbot, and to be a replacement for the Talbot-Matra-Simca Rancho station wagon. Early prototypes were designed to use Simca parts, and hence featured a grille reminiscent of the Simca 1307. However, after acquiring all of Chrysler's European assets, PSA decided the design was too expensive and risky to put into production, and Matra took their idea to Renault, who agreed (PSA finally ventured into the minivan sector 11 years later with the Citroën Evasion/Peugeot 806). The Matra concept became the Renault Espace. However, Chrysler, under whom Matra had originally conceived the Espace, had also been developing the minivan concept themselves, and managed to release their own Dodge Caravan a year earlier than the Espace in 1983. The term "minivan" derived from the fact that cars such as the Dodge Caravan were considerably smaller than traditional North American passenger vans such as the Ford E-Series.

The target market for the minivan was families living in suburban areas. This vehicle was a cross between the station wagon and the large work vans that people would customize for passenger travel. In North America, it came at a time when families wanted a different vehicle that didn't have the stigma of the station wagon era of their parents, and also wanted better fuel economy than that of the previously popular V8-powered station wagons/vans.

The minivan also offered another change from the large van or the station wagon: front-wheel drive, usually found only on smaller automobiles. This made for easier assembly of the vehicle, and allowed for more cargo/passenger area along the floor with the absence of the drive shaft hump. Minivans typically have removable seats and with the seats removed, the cargo area in the larger minivans can hold a 4'x8' sheet of drywall or plywood flat.

In the USA, in order for the style of minivan to circumvent the 1980s emission standards, the minivan had to be classified as a truck and could not have four doors like a car. Early US minivans such as the Dodge Caravan were three door configurations with a sliding curbside door.

Early minivans came with four-cylinder motors, which although they were more efficient, were not able to meet the life span of bigger engines. It was common to require major engine repairs on the four cylinder motors. The vehicles were also extremely sluggish when these small engines were paired with hydraulic automatic transmissions. Later six cylinder motors were offered and have become a standard choice by purchasers who plan to operate the vehicle for many years. Minivans are also notorious for having problems with their transaxles.

Current models

2006 full-size Mazda MPV (left) and compact Mazda5 (right) minivans

Modern minivans are now very similar to station wagons except they have a higher profile. Also, their hood is shorter, as they have more vertical room. Current models have two sliding doors, or normal doors if they are compact minivans. All minivans sold in North America have sliding doors, with the exception of the first-generation Mazda MPV, Honda Odyssey and Isuzu Oasis.

Today, many minivan manufacturers, including Ford, GM, and DaimlerChrysler also offer their minivans as cargo vans rather than passenger vans. These cargo vans are usually available only through fleet sales.

Buick GL8, sold in China

The trend for compact MPVs and mini MPVs began in Europe in the late 1990s with the launch of the Renault Scénic. Compact minivans were usually cars with tall bodies but based on the chassis and engines of a small family car (in the case of the Scénic, the Renault Mégane). The runaway success of the Scénic saw the car spawn a multitude of similar vehicles, including the General Motors Zafira, the Citroën Xsara Picasso, the Volkswagen Touran and the Nissan Almera Tino. By the mid-2000s, virtually all mainstream automakers in Europe had a compact MPV in their range. Also in the mid-2000s, manufacturers began to use MPV-style designs on supermini-based chassis, in cars such as the Opel Meriva, based on the Corsa, and the Fiat Idea, derived from the Punto chassis. Such models enjoyed some popularity in the United States in the late 1980s and early 1990s (for example, the Mitsubishi Expo (Mitsubishi Chariot in other markets) and Nissan Axxess. For 2006, the lone compact minivan available in the United States is the Mazda5.

In the ASEAN nations and India, because of the wide geography of the region, MUVs tend to be smaller cars that can cope with uneven terrain. Among these MUVs are the Chevrolet Tavera/Isuzu Panther, Ford Fusion, Hindustan Pushpak and Toyota Qualis (replaced by the Toyota Innova).

Public image in the USA

A stack of Hot Wheels toy Dodge Caravans

Minivans have a mixed image. They have a reputation for poor maneuverability and performance in comparison with other types of vehicles. However, they are also the vehicle of choice for large suburban families, and are frequently associated with "soccer moms". Perhaps because of these associations, minivan are often seen as dowdy or boring. Many buyers who need a car with a large amount of luggage and passenger space prefer the rugged, go-anywhere image of SUVs or the sporty, upscale image of European station wagons like the BMW 3 Series or the Volvo V70 provide. Whether large SUVs such as the Chevrolet Suburban and Ford Expedition are affected by similar stigmas as their designers attempt to compete with minivan comfort and convenience remains to be seen.

Minivan model prototype oddities

• The concept version of the Pontiac Trans Sport was small, and had a wingflap door on the side similar to the Delorean.

Minivan examples

Anything with e- is considered to be part of a mysterious sub-range of MPV.

Chevrolet Lumina APV/Pontiac Trans Sport/Oldsmobile Silhouette
Chevrolet Uplander/Pontiac Montana SV6/Buick Terraza/Saturn Relay
Chevrolet Venture/Pontiac Montana/Oldsmobile Silhouette/Opel/Vauxhall Sintra
Chrysler Town and Country/Dodge Caravan/Plymouth Voyager
Citroën Picasso (e-Type C)
Fiat Idea
Fiat Ulysse/Citroën C8/Peugeot 807
Fiat Multipla
Ford Aerostar
Ford Windstar/Ford Freestar/Mercury Monterey
Ford Galaxy/SEAT Alhambra/Volkswagen Sharan
Honda Odyssey/Isuzu Oasis
Kia Sedona
Mazda 5
Mazda MPV
Mercury Villager/Nissan Quest
Opel/Chevrolet/Vauxhall/Holden Zafira
Opel/Chevrolet/Vauxhall Meriva
Renault Espace (e-Type A)
Renault Scénic (e-Type B)
Toyota Previa
Toyota Sienna
Toyota Van
Toyota Wish
Volkswagen Touran
Volkswagen Vanagon/EuroVan

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This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.