Minivans remain one of the best ways to carry an entire family, and remain a somewhat popular niche long after the crossover takeover. But let’s picture a world where the crossover couldn’t beat the minivan, and all of the world’s automakers raced each other to build the best minivan. Which car or SUV would make a great minivan?
This question popped into my mind shortly after Thomas informed the Autopian Slack about some sweet Porsche Cayenne event that he went to. I’m sure he’s going to write about that, but seeing all of those Cayennes made me think. What if Porsche had created a super minivan instead of a super SUV?
As I have written in the past, when Porsche charted a course in the 1990s to secure its future, it examined trends and, at the time, minivans were still sizzling hot. Porsche ended up whittling down possible future vehicles to a sport minivan or a super SUV. Of course, Porsche ended up going with the SUV. Hindsight vision being perfect, we know that the Cayenne was the correct choice as SUVs only became more popular as minivans lost ground.
But I still like to think “what if?” What would have happened if some of the cars or crossovers that have been built had been minivans instead?
I think it would have been interesting to see something like the original BMW X5 be a minivan. Imagine a minivan with a silky-smooth straight-six or a healthy V8, miles of leather, and parts robbed from the BMW E39. Of course, this was back when BMW really cared about driving feel, too, so like the X5, a BMW minivan could have had surprisingly good handling and competent rear-biased all-wheel-drive. The early BMW X5 was also available with a five- or six-speed manual, too, so I’m picturing this alternate reality minivan going the same way.
Now, let’s go a really crazy direction and talk about Ford Broncos. Now, the current Ford Bronco is an absolute tank. There’s video out there of me absolutely getting massive airtime in a stock Bronco in Michigan. It’s wildly capable for sure. But let’s think of a weird alternate reality here where minivans had become so popular that, when reviving the Bronco, Ford had to make it a minivan in order for it to sell.
As silly as it sounds, I love the thought of a minivan with lockers, high ground clearance, actual off-roading chops, and oh yes, a removable roof.
So, I think you have an idea of what I’m talking about here. An alternate reality where minivans reign supreme. What cars, trucks, or SUVs today would have actually made for great minivans?
Sooooo…. how about taking the best of these comments and doing a sequel with the Bishop illustrating? Just a thought. I’ll be waiting in my AMC PacerVan.
BMW made a 7 seater MPV in the UK – the BMW 2 series Gran tourer https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/bmw/2-series/gran-tourer
Disagree on bronco minivan…however tweak it amd make a bronco econoline, people spend a fortune on overlanding econolines, would be the coolest van on the block
why do americans keep trying to re-invent the mitsubishi delica
you can’t re-invent peak
Ford Mustang, Chevy Camaro, and Dodge Challenger. I’m serious. I think if you want people to get excited about minivans, you have to build some exciting minivans, so why not a RWD V8 minivan? A little extra horsepower is actually useful in a minivan anyway, you’re going to load the thing with insane amounts of stuff regularly.
So now you have muscle car fun, but social. All your buddies can come along for your muscle van shenanigans. You actually have a chance at romantic relationships because minivans are considered responsible and secure, not ego-stroking red flags.
Think of all the cool muscular or sporty station wagons that have been made, and then imagine one of those with sliding doors. There’s no reason minivans have to be boring. I desperately wish for such a minivan to be made, because I love the sheer practicality and ease of life that minivans provide, and it’s tragic that the only thing they don’t offer is any excitement. Make a cool minivan, and people won’t consider minivans inherently uncool anymore. It’s as simple as that.
I love this alternate reality… although it would involve copious amounts of airbrushed murals.
I can live with copious airbrushed murals. Gotta feed painters somehow.
Ford Maverick with a raised roof and Oldsmobile style sunlights!
I would like to see a Defender based Carmichael Redwing. These were mostly fire engines but Queen Elizabeth had a passenger version at Sandringham.
How about a Hummer h1 minivan with the diesel engine the military used and 6 doors
The entire US luxury segment is sleeping on executive minivans.
How much would it really take for Cadillac to van-ify the XT6?
Not much. And it would be an improvement.
I’d love to see a Citroën DS (proto-) minivan.
Did I miss something or has no one mentioned the AMC Pacer?
Mini- minivans in general. Stuff that’s bigger than a Honda Fit but smaller than a Sienna.
Twenty years ago, almost every brand in Europe had one. Citroën C4 Picasso to VW Touran.
My wife and I loved the Picasso when we saw them in France. We wished we could bring that and the Peugeot 307 we rented for a few days back with us.
Mazda 5?
In 1989, during the minivan heydays, there was a title story in the German „Auto Motor und Sport“ magazine showing sketches of a BMW concept that obviously never materialized;
https://oldthing.de/Auto-Motor-und-Sport-1989-Heft-17-0054420726
Needs some Bishop drawings please
I’ve opined this before, but if Volvo had produced a minivan in the ’90s (maybe based on the 700 series) they would have sold every one they could build (most of them to Catholic school parents in the Northeast Corridor).
Why the 700 series? The had the perfect transverse FWD platform in the 800s to put into a monobox, and then later with Ford developing the S-Max/Galaxy to accommodate the 5-cylinder turbo it would have been a matter of a simple styling job to turn it into a Volvo.
(I may not actually know that much about ’90s Volvos *mild embarrassment*) Looking it up, yes that makes even more sense.
I could swear Mona Lisa Vito said the same thing.
The 2CV of course!
*cue As seen on TV actor clumsily fumbling an armful of eggs*
Why haul around 1 measley basket of eggs when you can haul *seven* baskets of eggs! Efficiency so great this thing will pay for itself in no time*
*Chickens sold separately
More ashtrays than cupholders?
Of course, it’ll be standard equipment lol
Rolls Royce Phantom/Ghost. I don’t think the minivan layout can be beat for getting chauffeured around in the back. Hell, put a straight up bed back there. Or a massage table with masseuse. Or a golfing simulator. So many possibilities for the “bespoke” department, just don’t call it a passenger area to the regulators, and designate it as a cargo van.
My Volvo XC90 or my old Subaru Forester
We had the Subaru Outback based Subaru seven seater here in Australia named the “Exiga” here it sold bad but is cheap on the used market. Low key want to make a wilderness edition. https://www.drive.com.au/reviews/subaru-liberty-exiga-review-road-test/#comments
The Oldsmobile Toronado. FWD, unibody, built like a beast. If it’s good enough for the GMC Motorhome and the Jetway 707 limousine, it’s good enough for a minivan.
Oh, I like this idea.
Keep building them into the late ’70s so they get the whole Brougham treatment… tufted velour seats, opera lights, fussy detailed grilles, “wood” and “chrome” everywhere… I bet they’d even have curtains on the windows.
How about a Tesla Model X – Plaid edition, of course.
With Falcon wing doors, that baby might really be able to fly!
The Honda Element would have been a good minivan, bare bones hose outable interior, plastic exterior parts that would have been easy to replace.
I legitimately thought the new highlanders were minivans the first time I saw it, just needs a sliding door!
Would like to see a hybrid f150 with a sliding door and 3 rows too… Are there minivan utes?
Oh, so for a neat, but sort of sad fact, the Element’s interior should not be hosed out. There aren’t proper drains, and the water will just get trapped between the flooring and the metal underneath, rotting out the floor.
The mini van version needs drain holes… Noted
The old BOF station wagons had amazing capability, just with a lower roofline. Imagine a Mercury Colony Park or Buick Electra Wagon with a 6” taller roofline. It would tow like a contemporary F-150 and outhaul any minivan.
Calling the Bishop! A high roof Colony Park or Electra wagon could have likely rivaled the 1500 Squarebody Suburban in all but 4wd offering. Higher seating, but more (’80s) luxury. Suitable towing capability on proven RWD BOF platforms. Would easily outclass most minivans in overall capability, although using more fuel due the V8 engines.
I wasn’t even thinking of raising the H point, just the ceiling over the 2nd and 3rd rows. They had plenty of headroom for people but with the seats folded down, the loadspace was vertically cramped.
Think of raising the H point for more leg-room. Take more even advantage of the long wheelbase. Add a high roof…
My old MDX and now Highlander crush a Colony Park in all but load length. Our Fox body wagon was closer in length, but shorter in height.
I find the whole cuv thing amusing in that they are everywhere and everyone is buying them. But I can’t help but see them as modern ladas. When you saw a lada years ago you would go what is that and why does it exist. It turns out to be a very capable platform but looks like something that shouldn’t exist certainly not purposely coming out of a factory that way.
There are so many crossovers I thought started life out as a minivan then got put in to the crossover cuv machine and made into some abomination. Ford is guilty of many the flex and the freestyle come to mind as the biggest offenders. The dodge journey. The Merc gla I’m still not what it exactly is other then a squashed down made to look fast modern lada.
Freestyle and Flex were actually traditional wagons based off the 500/Taurus large sedan. The Flex has a more van-like high roofline.
So was the Windstar, it was based off the dn5 platform the same one the Taurus was based on. Same thing in my mind. Cuv cross over machine.
Windstar was a pure minivan, most contemporaries were also based off midsize platforms (Sienna, Odyssey,Caravan).
Exactly what once was minivan is now a cuv or cross over. They just ditched the sliding doors and sometimes lines.
Since we talked about the Astro Van on Friday, I think that is what the world needs. Take any one of the boxy soft-roaders and make it taller, and add sliding rear doors and that cool hybrid barndoor/liftgate from the Astro. Add some AWD badging and maybe even two-tone paint and bumpers, and I think you could make minivans cool to a larger subset of buyers.
In order to compromise on ample seating/ a flat load floor, and still having a spare tire and reasonable fuel capacity without making the thing super tall I think we need to look at a hatch-mounted spare and a 2nd row that folds up to the sides like the Honda Element, with a 3rd row that folds down into the trunk like the Odyssey. Good storage in 3 row mode thanks to the deep trunk, a 4×8 flat floor in cargo mode. Slap a Toyota or Subaru badge on it, or better yet, they can each make a slightly different version, and it would be the darling of suburbanites and van-lifers.
Take the VW Jetta/Golf Alltrack sportwagen, make it a minivan. Way better than the badged Routan.
Also, a modern interpretation of the Chevy Nomad as a minivan. That just might work as well.
You know that the VW Caddy exists, do you?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_Caddy
VW couldn’t sell their minivan in the usa because of the chicken tax. well they could but they would have to build it here in the states.
Sure, but VW would not have to „invent“ it.
Also, until recently there was the VW Touran, almost exactly Mazda-5-sized.