Minivan

1988 Mitsubishi L300

You still see a few of the mid-engined 80s Toyota vans around, but when was the last time you saw a Mitsubishi van of that era? Very few of these things were sold in North America back in the day; in fact, I can't even figure out what Mitsubishi called this vehicle here; was it marketed as the plain ol' Mitsubishi Van? Van Wagon? In any case, the 1988 Mitsubishi van is one seriously rare machine, and so it has earned its place in DOTS Truck Monday.
More »

9:00 AM on Mon Jun 23 2008
By Murilee Martin
2,042 views, 60 comments

Latest by MerkurScorpio: I've seen one or two of these, and they are definitely unique. For one, the engine is located under the center console and front passenger seat. more »

honda freed

Honda Freed, A Fit Mini-Minivan

Sure, they're not only not cool, but we really can't stand them, but some of the most efficient vehicles on the market are five-door subcompacts and eight-passenger minivans. So what happens what you combine the two? Well, if you're Honda, you start with a Jazz, or as it's known in America, the Honda Fit, and then make it just a touch bigger to fit a third row of seats. Then, swap in some rear sliding doors, and you've got yourself a compact minivan that can seat up to eight people. But just how mini is it?

More »

10:20 AM on Fri May 30 2008
By Mark Arnold
3,571 views, 48 comments

Latest by Torque: We bought a Mazda5 a few weeks ago: 1. I have never had anyone ask me so many questions about the car I was driving. 2. It is perfect for a family of four. Our family alone, we have plenty of room more »

accessories

Wheelchair Uses Lasers To Automatically Dock In Van

Researchers at Lehigh University are developing a way to make it easier for wheelchair-bound individuals to dock a wheelchair in the back of a minivan. The system utilizes lasers and radio frequency technology to automatically guide a wheelchair onto the forklift-style platform that is in the rear of the van. This is similar to how the spacecraft Jules Verne docked with the International Space Station or how my Roomba robotic vacuum will automatically dock with its charging cradle. More »

1:00 PM on Tue May 6 2008
By Travis Hudson
674 views, 15 comments

Latest by FuzzyPlushroom: @Novaload: Thought the same thing. That three percent could be hilarious. more »

classic ad watch

1991 Oldsmobile Silhouette: Julie Nimoy's Space Vehicle

Remember the "Dustbuster" GM minivans? The Trans Sport? The Lumina APV? The Silhouette? Sure, it's only been a little over a decade since they stopped making the things, but just about every last one has disappeared. They can't all have been crushed by now, so where did they go? Into space, of course! Let's let the daughter of famous poet Leonard Nimoy 'splain how UFOs are really time machines!

11:00 AM on Tue Apr 8 2008
By Murilee Martin
2,590 views, 47 comments

geneva auto show

Opel Meriva Concept Revealed, Hooray For Suicide...Doors

Some of us hold suicide doors closer to heart than others, and Opel seems to be becoming a brand seeking to embrace us in all sorts of suicidally sound door configurations. The Opel Meriva Concept is a heavy hint at the next generation of the mini-minivan offering from Opel and among many features, it's replete with some mighty well-crafted suicide portals. Oh sure, that's not what they are going to call them. We're sure they'll use some kind of excuse like "a negative connotation" or "could cause protests from family groups," but whatever, that's just what everybody is going to call them. It's the way of the world. You don't see a GM car with a truck-bed and think immediately "it's a truck-car." No, you think "Hey, it's an El Camino." We don't care if does happen to be a GMC, the instinctual thought is "El Camino." Where were we? Oh right, the Meriva.

More »

10:45 AM on Wed Mar 5 2008
By Ben Wojdyla
1,079 views, 16 comments

Latest by FЯeeMan: @Rock517: definitely designed as a kid hauler - not for those with long legs. Unless they're at the auto show. more »

novelties

Realistic Car Toys Teach Kids About Harsh Urban Reality

Kids get these shiny, indestructible car toys and they start thinking the whole grown-up vehicle thing is a walk in the freakin' park! That's when you give 'em some toys that more accurately reflect the catastrophes that are likely to befall the city-driven vehicle. The Urban Collectible series includes the Insurance Scam Minivan, the Petrol Bombed Jeep, and the Joyridden Hatchback, each of which shows a grim "after" automotive picture that's sure to enlighten the younguns. [Chinnychinchin.net]

10:00 AM on Fri Feb 29 2008
By Murilee Martin
2,429 views, 32 comments

Latest by pres: Some of my junk...dunno if it is "urban" or not: And the other: [i271.photobucket.com] more »

future cars

Toyota Alphard Scans Show Minivan Pre-Dekotora'd For The Masses

Possibly reaching out to the dekotora crowd, Toyota seems to be taking the next generation of its most awkwardly named MPV in a distinct direction with a gigantic and protruding front fascia. The Toyota Alphard, which is named for a star but sounds like the first mentally challenged person or a movie about Alf in prison, is what our vans would look like if we hadn't abandoned the Previa. In Japan, the current gen includes a hybrid version and the Royal Lounge Alphard, which has only four seats. If you look closely at the scans from this random Japanese magazine, you'll see airline-like captain's chairs with a possible full recline feature.

More »

5:45 PM on Tue Feb 26 2008
By Matt Hardigree
2,362 views, 31 comments

Latest by n/a: Wait... It's not Alphard. It's Alf Hard. Is there's going to be an Alf Soft too? :) more »

classic ad watch

Tina Turner Wants To Put You In a Plymouth Voyager!

Say it's the 80s and you've got the Chrysler advertising account. You've got Tina Turner signed up to do an ad... but what's the best vehicle to have her pitch? Maybe something sporty, like the Shelby GLHS? Or luxurious, like the Chrysler/Maserati TC? No, no... when you think Tina Turner, you think minivan, right? Exactly.

10:00 AM on Tue Jan 8 2008
By Murilee Martin
1,024 views, 20 comments

retro

1936 Stout Scarab: The First Minivan?

Dull as minivans may seem (well, unless they run 12-second quarter miles, of course), they're pretty useful transportation appliances that do the job asked of them. Lots of folks give VW credit for making the first one, but the Gray Lady would like to point out that the Stout Scarab, a Ford V8-powered machine equipped with comfy furniture and aluminum bodywork, came first. Its builder, William Stout, also designed the aircraft that evolved into the Ford Trimotor... which is cool and all, but can't measure up to the achievement of Bill Lear, who is responsible for both the 8-track tape and the Learjet. <[New York Times]

10:30 AM on Mon Jan 7 2008
By Murilee Martin
1,343 views, 27 comments

Latest by danio3834: Scab? more »

spy photos

Ford S-Max Spotted on the Mean Steets of Detroit

After being berated for the crappy quality of my pictures here, and here, and many other times, I've decided to upgrade to a Lumix FZ18 from the three year old Exilim that had horrible fading, limited dynamic range, and no optical zoom. The ironic part is that though this new piece of kit takes gorgeous pictures, the first you'll be seeing from it are full 18x zoom at speed looking through a mirror. So, in a word, crap. Nonetheless, look what we found running up and down Detroit's Woodward corridor this weekend, a Ford S-Max, fully kitted with chassis data collection equipment. We caught it sprinting through the the bougie neighborhood of Palmer Woods on it's way to making one of the many loops north to south we witnessed this weekend. We haven't heard anything yet about a true minivan replacement for the ill fated ~~Wind~~Freestar, but given the direction of GM's Saturn strategy lately, one wonders if the Blue Oval is thinking of taking a cue from the General and importing Euro product. Far be it for the progenitor of automotive standardization to do so again 90 years after it was considered de rigeur, that would just be madness.

9:30 AM on Mon Dec 3 2007
By bwojdyla
1,584 views, 26 comments

Latest by n/a: I saw it on I-75 North but the one i saw was yellow more »

classic clarkson

Clarkson on the Dodge Grand Caravan

Some of you may remember Dan Neil's rather glowing review of the new Chrysler Town & Country Limited. You know, the one where he proclaims that a smart, sensible baby haulin' minivan makes him a total DILF. Well, Jeremy Clarkson is having none of it. Clarkson hauls his wife and three daughters to the great city of Ottawa where he rents a Dodge Grand Caravan. We should pause right here and explain that Jezza may very well have borrowed a 2004 Grand Caravan. We doubt he knows the difference. Truth is, we don't really care about Jeremy's take on a minivan. No, we're posting this because of his take on Canada:

But by the same token no one in Canada ever wins on the horses, or escapes from a knife fight with their life, or has an orgasm. It is Switzerland with wheat.

Damn skippy. [Times Online]

11:45 AM on Tue Nov 27 2007
By Jonny Lieberman
3,243 views, 62 comments

Latest by FThorn: @Tobias1: You have to realize different folks are in different stages in their lives. Exposing the obvious crooked teeth of the UK is perhaps entirely NEW (not OLD, as you state) to some of the young pups. My single-digit kids have more »

new cars

Chevy To Get New Michigan-Made Minivan Based On Opel Zafira

Wait, we thought Saturn was the new Opel. Apparently, according to Automotive News sources, Chevy's going to be getting a seven-seater minivan in 2009 based on the Opel Zafira. Apparently this new vehicle, alluded to in the UAW contract leakage of a couple months ago, will be built at GM's Hamtramck plant. This new automotive venture will replace the death of Chevy's last minivan, the Venture. But there's more: More »

7:45 AM on Mon Nov 12 2007
By Ray Wert
2,509 views, 33 comments

novelties

Holy Cow! Flying Cow Crushes Minivan

It's been a while since we've taken a physics course, so we can't be sure what the total force of 600 pounds of live beef falling 200 feet is, but we're fairly certain that we don't want it falling on us. A Spokane, Washington couple had this exact experience while driving their minivan near the popular Lake Chelan tourist area yesterday. Apparently, the cow had wandered away from home (possibly distraught) a few days earlier and made it five miles before the jump. The vehicle's passengers weren't injured, but the cow had to be euthanized. Dinner that night in the Chelan County Sheriff's Department mess was somber but delicious. [Reuters]

10:30 AM on Wed Nov 7 2007
By Matt Hardigree
1,575 views, 24 comments

Latest by ecmuller: [hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu] 272.155422kg = 200lbs 60.96m = 200ft 1 625 878.26346176 newtons = 365 511.974 pounds force it reminds me of the safety posters at work reminding us not to drop things when we work on towers. A 5 pound hammer becomes over 100 more »

detroit auto show

Nissan Forum Concept to Debut in Detroit

We sauntered over to the Las Vegas Hilton pavilion last night for a no-photos event. It was Nissan, showing off its latest design concept, the Forum, which uses trippy, organic shapes to unhook some minivan clichés from our forebrain. It's the Forum concept, a vannish prototype that's ostensibly a forebear of the next Quest. Despite the curvilinearity of the front, the Forum sports a chopped, right angle at the rear, which gives it a familial connection with the Japan-only Cube, which we hear will also find its way to the US in some form. The Forum also has a cryptic button on the steering wheel that reads "Mommy Pause." Perhaps the driving equivalent of a bath in Calgon bubbles? More »

1:16 PM on Wed Oct 31 2007
By Mike Spinelli
630 views, 7 comments

Latest by imoody: Guess they're running out of real-word names... more »

choose your eternity

PCH, Turbo Sleeper Edition: Regal or Minivan?

The Morgan applied a savage caning to the quasi-MG in yesterday's Choose Your Eternity poll, thereby proving that wooden frames are preferable to wooden firewalls. We're going to take a little breather from British Car Hell today (just for a little while, mind you, because most of the cars in Hell are British... although we understand the Evil One himself drives a black dual-engine Toronado) and go with some Motown Mo-chinery for your punitive pleasure. How about a car that looks like it gets driven only to Bingo Night at the Senior Center, yet has the potential for Super Boost Potential?
More »

5:30 PM on Fri Sep 14 2007
By Murilee Martin
3,192 views, 32 comments

Latest by petersterncan: The K-based minivan all the way. Imagine... beating a guy in his Porsche Boxter not just a K-car... a K-car *minivan*... and not a V6 one either. Oh the pain the Porsche owner will feel. The only thing that might be sweeter is beating more »

as seen in america

Ford S-Max in the US

Overseas models continually pop up on US streets, often as the chosen rides for homesick diplomats, sometimes as cross-border jobbies from Canada or Mexico and frequently as test vehicles fielded by automaking engineers. Since there's been talk of Ford CEO Allan Mulally being quite hot to bring some of Ford Europe's finest kinetic designs to the US, spotting an S-Max MPV on the streets of LA may be enough to get tongues wagging. Of course the unfavorable exchange rate makes such a prospect of a Euro-built Ford import unlikely. Now, if FoMoCo sets up an S-Max werks in Mexico, LA will be maxed out inside a year. (Thanks to Rick Rubin for the def tip.)

3:35 PM on Tue Aug 28 2007
By Mike Spinelli
1,958 views, 17 comments

Latest by Simpsons-Movie-ruled: @M0L0TOV: hmmm its both more »

soccer moms in love

Mercedes Tweaks Plan for Slow-Selling R-Class

Apparently the market for a hotshot, V8-powered luxury minivan isn't as latent as Mercedes had hoped. But an anemic luxury minivan that looks like an SUV? More of that, please. That's the short version of Mercedes's plan to wring out some sort of a market for its R-Class van. It's dropping the R500 and 'bahn-worthy AMG R63 for the 2008 model year, though the base, V6 model will get the AMG cladding. That's because, according to Automotive News, buyers told Mercedes they wanted the family transporter to look more like an SUV. It turns out well heeled empty nesters, the R-Class's original target, are unimpressed with the R, while prestige-starved soccer moms have flipped over it. But for them, V8 power and an entry price point of $50,000 are unnecessary extravagances. Go, mom.

9:03 AM on Mon Aug 13 2007
By Mike Spinelli
849 views, 18 comments

Latest by n/a: @Mike Spinelli: We call it 'rip-off Britain'. It really is a sorry state of affairs. more »

Jalopnik

2009 BMW 7-Series Thinks It's KITT, Has Human-Detecting Night Vision

Gawker Media Network