the American Dream: Chrysler Minivan

the American Dream: Chrysler Minivan by ric gustafson


In 1979 and 1980, the Chrysler Corporation was bankrupt. Lee Iacocca and Hal Sperlich were in charge of the corporation. Both of these men were behind the creation of the Ford Mustang. To save Chrysler, the men came up with the idea of a new type of vehicle. This vehicle would define the baby boomer generation. This vehicle would be the Minivan.
Their idea was a van that would have a front wheel drive platform. This would eliminate a heavy drive shaft. The two men developed two compact sedans, the Dodge Aries and the Plymouth Reliant. Sperlich's vision was for a trucklike vehicle on a car chassis.
In May 1983, an ad showed a vehicle that had a short hood and a large passenger compartment. It was a one box design and it was called a van for all seasons. This was the Minivan.
The minivan had a four cylinder engine and a five speed manual transmission. It got 24 miles a gallon in the city and 35 miles a gallon on the highway. It came with two rows of seats which held up to five people and was priced around $9000.
It did have it's share of problems including a side door that stuck and had trouble climbing some hills. The competition came out with the Ford Aerostar and Chevrolet Astro. Later, GM came out with it's own van called the Chevrolet Lumina. Through the 80's and most of the 90's, Chrysler dominated the minivan market.
In the mid 1990's, a new vehicle came and changed the market forever.



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Peace and God's blessings. Love Ric