BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WINDSOR, Ontario -- When a struggling Chrysler Corp. introduced the minivan 15 years ago as its "magic wagon," few foresaw how the family hauler would become a ubiquitous part of the America's suburban landscape.
Soccer moms loved it. It almost killed the station wagon. And it helped save Chrysler from bankruptcy. Automotive historians consider it the most significant vehicle of the last quarter-century.
Chrysler marked the minivan's anniversary Thursday with ceremonies at its Windsor and St. Louis assembly plants. At St. Louis, the 7 millionth Chrysler minivan was driven off the line, while in Windsor, Chrysler Chairman Robert J. Eaton declared the minivan Chrysler's crown jewel -- its most successful vehicle ever.
Almost every other major automaker has jumped into the market since the first Dodge Caravan rolled off the Windsor assembly line Nov. 2, 1983. But Chrysler remains the dominant player at more than 40 percent of the U.S. market. It sells about 700,000 Dodge Caravan, Plymouth Voyager and Chrysler Town & Country minivans a year.
The secret to the minivan's success?
"Functionality, functionality, functionality," analyst Eric Noble of AutoPacific Inc. said. "There's no vehicle that's easier to get people and things in and out of."
Professor David L. Lewis, an automotive historian at the University of Michigan, lists the minivan as the fourth most influential car or truck of all time, behind the Ford Model T, Volkswagen Beetle and Ford F-series pickup.
"The minivan provided more space and more conveniences and could be fit into a garage," Mr. Lewis said. "It was kind of like McDonald's and Holiday Inn: just what motorists had been waiting for but didn't know it until it arrived."
Despite predictions that the minivan's popularity would fade as its baby boomer buyers aged and moved into sport-utility vehicles and luxury cars, demand has remained strong at about 7 percent of the U.S. light vehicle market.
It turns out that many of those aging boomers still find a minivan handy even after the kids are grown. Chrysler says 40 percent of buyers don't have children at home.
"Once the children are gone, they don't want to give up the ability to go out to dinner with two other couples in a single vehicle," Mr. Noble said.
The term minivan, of course, is a misnomer; there's nothing mini about 'em. The popular long-wheelbase Chrysler minivans, for example, are a full foot longer than the standard, full-size Dodge Ram Van. But the name stuck.
And although Chrysler deservedly gets the credit for creating the minivan market, earlier versions existed under different names, notably the rear-engined Volkswagen Microbus and the Chevrolet Corvair Greenbrier "sports wagon" of the 1960s.
It was Chrysler, however, that developed the car-based, front-drive platform on which most minivans today are based.
For the first few years, Chrysler's minivans were considered a hip alternative to the stodgy, faux-wood paneled station wagons that had populated suburban driveways for more than two decades. Ironically, the minivan today suffers the same "mom-mobile" image as the car it replaced.
