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The word Minivan was also used in Britain, especially in the 1960s and 1970s, to refer to the van version of the Mini — a very small two seater van.

A minivan, people carrier 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 design was developed independently in the late 1970s and early 1980s by Matra/Renault 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.

Contents 1 History 2 Current models 3 Public image in the USA 4 Minivan examples

History

The minivan design was launched simultaneously by Renault (Renault Espace) and Chrysler (Dodge Caravan) 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 the French manufacturer Matra, who were then affiliated with Simca and Talbot, the former European subsidiaries of the Chrysler Corporation, who were sold in 1977 to the PSA Group (Peugeot-Citroën). The 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 Matra's 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

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.

The trend for compact minivans (or mini-MPVs) began in Europe in the late 1990s with the launch of the Renault Scénic. Compact minivans were usually cars with minivan bodies but based on the chassis and engines of a compact car (in the case of the Scénic, the Renault Mégane). The runaway success of the Scénic saw the car spawn a multitude of imitators, 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 mini-MPV in their range. Also in the mid-2000s, manufacturers began to use minivan-style designs on even smaller chassis, in cars such as the Opel Meriva, based on the Corsa supermini.

Public image in the USA

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".

Minivan examples

• 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
• 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
• Renault Scénic
• Toyota Previa
• Toyota Sienna
• Volkswagen Touran
• Volkswagen Vanagon/EuroVan

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