The Rise and Reinvention of Chrysler Minivans

In 1972, a team of designers worked at making a practical van that could fit in a garage, arguing over the best way to get there—and fighting for the project’s life with executives who insisted on just matching GM and Ford. Eventually, they got their way—and then they had the real battle: to stay on top in a field of well-funded competitors.

The first Chrysler minivans created a niche, but they also ushered in the age of the crossover by showing that a large, tall front-drive vehicle could sell in the hundreds of thousands. Before the Caravan and Voyager, there were practically no sales of front-wheel-drive crossovers; now they’re the most popular cars.

Using stories from people who were there, the book dives into their decisions, the electric and natural-gas minivans, and the assembly plants. The story of the Chrysler, Dodge, and Plymouth minivans goes through major corporate upheavals and competition, right into the present day.

“It’s incredibly rare when the auto industry creates an entirely new class of vehicle, and rarer still when that innovation is an unqualified success story, but such was the case with Chrysler and the development of the minivan. In Mopar Minivans, Zatz uses the people who were there to retell, in vivid detail, the largely forgotten story of how this innovative people-mover evolved into a quintessential piece of American family life for two generations.”

— Larry Vellequette, Automotive News