Have you seen

[TommyK]

Well truck, SUT, SUV, XUV, cross over.. whatever the heck they are calling those truck like hatch backs now.

 

In the TV spot, it shows many features, including a stack of Marshalls in the back. Is this a metaphor for a Marshall amp under the dashboard? Or just sundry cargo?

 

Just curious.

[Versatile]

I say 'Back to basics', a car is a car, a truck is a truck....all this crossover business is getting a bit much, just a commercial catch. Apart from the Range Rover and Land Rover of course......

 

 

 

[retrosurfer1959]

There just trying to make a mini van look cool - so it shows the guys shock when he see's it, just trying again to make guys feel less PW when the wife drives the cool car and your stuck driving the minivan

[TommyK]

Mini vans were and are cool for guys to drive. Remember the 60's and 70's? 1st and 2nd generation Chevy and Ford vans were a man's vehicle. They are, by today's standards, minivans. The driver was either a mechanic, or a sportsman. Most fathers cringed when he saw a van pull up to the drive to pick up their 'Angel'. It wasn't until the 1996 US Presidential election that the term 'Soccer Mom' came into our everyday vernacular. Somehow "Soccer Mom" was equated with mini-van driving. True, at that point in automotive history mini-vans were the vehicle of choice for busy, mobile families, of which the mom usually was the designated social/activity coordinator and chauffeur. Coupled with the fact that the full width front bench seat, spacious trunks were near dinosaurs as well as the station wagon, the mini van was the obvious replacement. That and the mini-van, legally identified as as truck, did not fall under the CAFE restrictions of the era.

 

Toyota and Honda are just trying to erase the misconceived notion that a min-van is not manly. GM and Ford have turned their backs on this platform. But, then again, who is going to say they make good marketing decisions?

 

Personally I prefer the minivan to the shortened up suburbans they market as SUVs, SUTs, Cross-overs. Dollar for dollar, mpg for mpg, the minivan is more stable, more cost effective and has more room.

 

I proudly drive my SUV / Truck, aka Saturn Relay, aka minivan where the only things in the cup holders are a cup of "Joe" and a beef jerky. B)

[DanvillRob]

Actually the raise in interest and production of SUV's and other "crossovers" is due to the fact that "trucks" were not considered part of a manufacturer's "CAFE" standards, (Corporate Average Fuel Economy"), for cars. They have their own CAFE standard, (which is like 7 MPG less than for cars), so a company like Ford or Gm could sell more large cars and fewer small cars because the fuel mileage of the SUV's wouldn't be counted as part of the average fuel economy for cars.

[sparky scott 29]

When I was growing up, which I still haven't fully, we used to call them station wagons.

[DanvillRob]

When I was growing up, which I still haven't fully, we used to call them station wagons.

 

Yes...but station wagons WOULD have to be added into the CAFE standard for cars, so every one sold would drag up the average resulting the the company having to sell fewer large cars and more small cars, (which most people don't want).

[RobinTheHood]

The original minivan.

[Versatile]

The original minivan.

Sorry...lovely though it is...that is not the original minivan.....

[RobinTheHood]

Sorry...lovely though it is...that is not the original minivan.....

 

Well, since you disagree, but didnt care enough to share, I did a Google search for "the original minivan" out of curiosity. I thought maybe I was missing something. Apparently, every automaker claims to have built "the original minivan".

 

But I still like this:

 

The original "minivan" was developed by Volkswagen in about 1950 with the Volkswagen Type 2 "minibus" and variants. The VW Type 2 had a rear engine and rear-wheel drive. VW currently makes a modern variant 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 , that was, in retrospect, even closer to the minivan of nowadays.

 

 

So, what IS the original, if not the VW? The Renualt Escape?

 

[DanvillRob]

[RobinTheHood]

Too bad it takes two Mustangs to pull it!

[Versatile]

Well, since you disagree, but didnt care enough to share, I did a Google search for "the original minivan" out of curiosity. I thought maybe I was missing something. Apparently, every automaker claims to have built "the original minivan".

 

But I still like this:

 

The original "minivan" was developed by Volkswagen in about 1950 with the Volkswagen Type 2 "minibus" and variants. The VW Type 2 had a rear engine and rear-wheel drive. VW currently makes a modern variant 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 , that was, in retrospect, even closer to the minivan of nowadays.

 

 

So, what IS the original, if not the VW? The Renualt Escape?

I love the VW microbus too (check out the Brazilian built current model), and you are correct in that it dates from about 1950. I humbly offer the Austin/Morris Minivan derived from the Mini of circa 1957...Because it is Smaller...lol

[RobinTheHood]

I love the VW microbus too (check out the Brazilian built current model), and you are correct in that it dates from about 1950. I humbly offer the Austin/Morris Minivan derived from the Mini of circa 1957...Because it is Smaller...lol

 

Now thats tiny! Oh wait, I get it! A van by Mini...a Mini van! It's all obvious to me now. Well played, sir.

[MrNylon]

It's like they want to get back to station wagons, but don't want to call them station wagons. Europeans have no problems with station wagons.

[TommyK]

Chrysler claims to have invented the mini-van, but VW, infact, preceded it by about a quarter century. Chrysler may have been the first to CALL it a minivan. VeeDub USA called it a micro bus. VeeDub Wolfsburg called it a Type 2.

 

The Honda commercial in question is here:

 

 

The aforementioned Marshalls are at 0:12.

[Gilliangirl]

Station wagons were never cool but this movie pretty much cemented that sentiment.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1b2EySQjaFQ&feature=related

 

I'm also amazed at how many people buy *pretty* SUV's at outrageous prices without doing their homework. Some of them have a smaller engine than my sewing machine. So what exactly are they paying for...... velour car seats?

[TommyK]

It's like they want to get back to station wagons, but don't want to call them station wagons. Europeans have no problems with station wagons.

 

Of course not. For the most part their governments keep the price of fuel high enough with taxes that they take twice as long to think about buying a gallon of gas. If we had to pay $4 and $5 per gallon for fuel we'd be falling in love with station wagons all over again too.

 

Chrysler made a wagon called the Magnum until about '08. They replaced it with the "Journey" Essentially it is a station wagon but with a higher roof line. Thus, I suspect that makes it a truck.

 

Actually if you look at the four wheeled vehicles the US auto industry calls 'cross over' vehicles, you have a station wagon. Somehow they've been able to have so called cross-overs classified as non-automobiles to keep them out of the CAFE regs. Not sure what it takes to be a car any more.

 

How 'bout some European telling us what a liter of gasoline / petrol costs you today?