When I was about 13 or 14 my dream vehicle was a Pontiac Trans Sport SE. When they became old and cheap I got one and drove it for 9 years. Lots of hauling stuff and towing the camper. But for where I live now I need the 4WD and ground clearance of my Jeep. I've always liked the old conversion vans but until recent years the only way you could have 4WD and ground clearance was a custom job. I'd set it up as a tiny home away from home. Even live in it down by the river if need be.
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I think the soccer mom image is gone, because minivans are so ubiquitous. You're more likely to see the minivan driven by decent folk such as soccer mom's kids, or musicians, general workmen, or the homeless.
We're super happy with our '03 Toyota Sienna. The dealer let us see his book of ever Toyota available in the US, we picked the one with the fewest options, and paid the AAA recommended price for it, bing bam boom, a 15 minute transaction. I was procrastinating on taking it off of collision coverage, then I smacked a deer with it on the way home from an out-of-town gig. It was nearly totaled, but they put it back together. It has hail damage on every body panel. It boiled over, climbing a jeep trail in the Colorado Rockies. I repaired one of the taillights with a kit from 3M.
It's got automatic gearbox, you get in, step on the pedal, and it goes forward or backward depending on which way you put the lever. Heaven. Shifting is Jackie Stewart smooth.
Our great hope is that the van lasts long enough to get the kids to college, so we never have to buy a second minivan. So far so good, three years left.
I bought a used E150 a few years ago to haul my music gear when i was working out of town a lot. I could get everything i needed in my GMC extended cab truck, but only by putting my backup bass in the front passenger seat, not to mention having the rest of it piled up high enough behind the seat you could see it through the windows. It made for a crap ton of extra work as i had to not only load out of the venue at night, i had to carry everything into my motel room then back out again the next day and i would go a but nutty if my truck was loaded and out of my sight for more than a few minutes. The van solved all those problems as it was a former work truck full of shelving, which i took out, and a nice HD headache rack behind the seats, which i left in place. When you look through the windshield all you see is the passenger compartment and a wall. It has windows in the side and back doors but they are tinted so dark they may as well be painted black and they are backed by heavy wire cages inside so even if you broke the glass you are still a long way from being in it.
It's dark blue and has all black trim so it looks kind of sinister. One of the guitar players i was working with at the time dubbed it the "green river mothership" the first time he saw it. I have yet to hear any candy or perv references, but that slight has been more than made up for by everything from people i know (jokingly) asking if i work for the NSA, to a deputy sherrif one night telling me it was a nice stalker rig.
TBH, i could care less about the comments. i actually enjoy the idea that people think it looks like an undercover surveillance van and it has proved to be very useful in more ways than securing my music gear when i road trip so do your best, but it's gonna take some doing to top the green river mothership comment.
It's dark blue and has all black trim so it looks kind of sinister. One of the guitar players i was working with at the time dubbed it the "green river mothership" the first time he saw it. I have yet to hear any candy or perv references, but that slight has been more than made up for by everything from people i know (jokingly) asking if i work for the NSA, to a deputy sherrif one night telling me it was a nice stalker rig.
TBH, i could care less about the comments. i actually enjoy the idea that people think it looks like an undercover surveillance van and it has proved to be very useful in more ways than securing my music gear when i road trip so do your best, but it's gonna take some doing to top the green river mothership comment.
That is an outstanding pair of machines. I think station wagons count. SUVs don't count as vans, though. Mostly due to my attitude problem about them. They combine the worst features of vans, pickups, and station wagons into one unfortunately fashionable way to turn fuel into burnt fuel without providing the benefit and utility they supposedly deliver. Vans of all kinds are the way to go. Plus you become a slightly sinister person in a van if it is dark. Or scary if it isn't. That is a fine benefit that nothing else can deliver as effectively.
Club numbers to follow when I get my act together a little.
Soccer moms seem to mostly drive high end SUVs now.
That is quite a wild dream for a young teenager.
Now I think about it, even before that, back around 1986 I wanted a Plymouth Voyager too. Of course both of these were pretty revolutionary for their time. But I learned about too many of their problems before I got old enough to drive.
I've also had a thing for station wagons, though I currently don't have one. First car was a Cavalier wagon, 2nd and 3rd cars were Pontiac 6000 and Chevy Celebrity wagons. Also had another 6000 wagon for awhile.
I'm more than a little into driving something that reflects my personality. I could see having a real truck-based van for band gear. Minivan? Nope. Neither I nor my wife will drive one. We once got one as a rental car, turned around when we saw it, went back in and got a different vehicle (Mustang convertible!)
My dad once made the egregious mistake of buying a Corvair Greenbriar van in the 60's. Air-cooled six, automatic transmission - it was a totally horrible vehicle. He once drove it 30 minutes against a head wind with his foot on the floor and never topped 60 MPH. But it burned holes in three pistons under warranty - at which point he hastily unloaded it. I pity the poor foo' who bought it.
But a real van? I'm good widdat.
My dad once made the egregious mistake of buying a Corvair Greenbriar van in the 60's. Air-cooled six, automatic transmission - it was a totally horrible vehicle. He once drove it 30 minutes against a head wind with his foot on the floor and never topped 60 MPH. But it burned holes in three pistons under warranty - at which point he hastily unloaded it. I pity the poor foo' who bought it.
But a real van? I'm good widdat.
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My minivan treats me okay. For "my personality," I have a '71 Alfa Romeo Spider. Ain't gonna fit much in it, though.
My minivan treats me okay. For "my personality," I have a '71 Alfa Romeo Spider. Ain't gonna fit much in it, though.
You, sir, are a gentlemen!!
The world needs more Alfa lovers! I have considerable lust in my heart for the new Alfa Giulia.
My daily driver is a 2008 BMW 328xi Sportwagon with a six-speed manual. Combining AWD and the manual makes it a blast to drive, and I have cargo room for my bass gear when needed. It drives just like my wife's coupe, and I go in search of twisty roads for fun.
Personality? My fun car....which actually has room for a bass, my Genz-Benz 6.2 Shuttle on a 12" G-B cab, a guitar stand and my accessories bag.
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I'm rockin' a 1997 Grand Caravan - it has 104K on the clock but the speedo was out for a while so maybe 5-10K more? It was my mother's who didn't drive much - I inherited it 3 and a half years ago 
. I believe it is eligible for antique plates this year :O . I've had to put about $1200 a year into repairs which is pretty OK for any used vehicle. So far on my watch - rear brake lines, rear shocks, instrument cluster fixed, exhaust, major tuneup (plugs, wires, coil), front brakes, battery, couple tires, main belt, starter. As long as the "frame" is sound and engine and tranny work I'll keep it I guess. It does require a $1 bottle of power steering fluid every six months and the antifreeze topped off once a year - maybe a water pump due soon or an alternator? AC still works fine 
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. I believe it is eligible for antique plates this year :O . I've had to put about $1200 a year into repairs which is pretty OK for any used vehicle. So far on my watch - rear brake lines, rear shocks, instrument cluster fixed, exhaust, major tuneup (plugs, wires, coil), front brakes, battery, couple tires, main belt, starter. As long as the "frame" is sound and engine and tranny work I'll keep it I guess. It does require a $1 bottle of power steering fluid every six months and the antifreeze topped off once a year - maybe a water pump due soon or an alternator? AC still works fine .Here you go. It's been real wet last few weeks and our dry creek bed of a driveway has not been very dry so all our vehicles are muddy ATM, but it actually cleans up real nice.
I'd love a van. In fact, I may just buy one to live in it for 2 years while I save money. I'd love a lower mileage van with an observation bubble like the old Chevys.
there's no safety in a lot of vans when you get hit head on. Your legs have zippity between them and the onrushing doom when the motor is under the front seats.
I don't know about the US but here they cost a lot to maintain when they get up in miles. Merc parts are a rort.
That's a very fair point. In fact I was thinking of vans like the Ford Transit, or Econoline, which is mostly what I drove, and for that reason.
My first van was a Nissan Urvan - only for the fact that I had a heavy-duty bull-bar fitted I'd have certainly lost at least my legs when I was involved in a head-on collision in it.
After that, I only drove with an engine in front!
This isn't mine, but the one that lasted me for a very long time was almost identical - 1966 built. I had one from '85 to '99 in a fetching 'olympic' white. Toughest thing on the roads...
Shortly after she got her license, my cousin was coming back from taking her BF home, just a few miles. For whatever reason (nobody knows likely a deer or drunk driver) she lost it on a corner and hit a tree with the 4x4 Astro van. Not much wiggle or crush space in a traditional style van. Brain was gone, they kept her on life support for 3 years till other things did her in. Sad because she was all 4.0 and would have been valedictorian. Her brothers have a history of all sorts of illegal activities, stupid hot rodding, once even putting a car through a tree (fender was still in the tree) and always walked away.
