WEBVTT - The Chrysler Minivan and the New American Parent 0:00:15.316 --> 0:00:23.916 Pushkin. It's the fall of nineteen eighty three in suburban Detroit. 0:00:26.996 --> 0:00:29.796 I'm eleven years old, and I'm on the school bus. 0:00:31.156 --> 0:00:34.996 We're wending through neighborhoods of mid century ranches and tri levels, 0:00:35.596 --> 0:00:38.756 the very sort of handsome middle class homes that car 0:00:38.796 --> 0:00:43.596 industry prosperity has made possible in this town. The bus 0:00:43.676 --> 0:00:47.756 is heading to my friend Josh's house. Josh's dad works 0:00:47.756 --> 0:00:51.636 at Chrysler. Lots of my friend's dads work at the 0:00:51.676 --> 0:00:57.196 big three car companies, Chrysler, Ford and General Motors. And 0:00:57.356 --> 0:01:00.036 even if they don't work for them, they still kind 0:01:00.036 --> 0:01:03.956 of do. In Detroit, it doesn't matter if you're a 0:01:03.996 --> 0:01:07.356 barber or a surgeon. You still serve the people of 0:01:07.396 --> 0:01:14.756 the Big three. It's a company town. The bus hisses 0:01:14.796 --> 0:01:17.836 to a stop as Josh makes his way up the 0:01:17.836 --> 0:01:21.356 steps and down the rubberized aisle. I see that his 0:01:21.436 --> 0:01:25.196 mighty mack jacket has a white pin on it. It 0:01:25.316 --> 0:01:31.276 says magic wagon, Magic wagon. What is that about? I ask? 0:01:32.316 --> 0:01:36.916 Josh tells me it's like a van. Well, that sounds incredible. 0:01:37.836 --> 0:01:41.716 The van is already the coolest vehicle there is. I mean, 0:01:41.996 --> 0:01:45.596 mister T drives one on the A team, Good afternoon. 0:01:48.716 --> 0:01:50.956 Are you crazy? Who might drive my van? But me 0:01:51.236 --> 0:01:54.396 get out of you? The Magic Wagon must be even 0:01:54.476 --> 0:01:57.796 cooler than that. It has magic right in the name. 0:01:58.956 --> 0:02:02.156 It probably has huge stripes down the front and wizards 0:02:02.156 --> 0:02:06.876 on the side and flames shooting out the back. And 0:02:06.916 --> 0:02:10.356 then a few days later I see the ad for 0:02:10.476 --> 0:02:19.956 it on TV introducing Plymouth Voyager. You've got some tragi. Hi, 0:02:20.156 --> 0:02:23.076 I'm Doug Henny. You know, as your family grows bigger 0:02:23.116 --> 0:02:27.036 and bigger, cars have been getting smaller and smaller. So 0:02:27.156 --> 0:02:32.316 what you need is a magic wagon? Who boy? It 0:02:32.356 --> 0:02:34.796 was clear that the magic Wagon was not a van. 0:02:35.596 --> 0:02:39.756 Far from it. It was a minivan, emphasis on mini, 0:02:40.356 --> 0:02:44.156 like a miniature Schnauzer or a kiddie pool. It was 0:02:44.236 --> 0:02:46.716 not some slammed hot rod van with the flames and 0:02:46.756 --> 0:02:49.796 the wizards and the stripes on the outside. There was 0:02:49.836 --> 0:02:54.596 no shag carpeting inside, and mister T would definitely pity 0:02:54.636 --> 0:02:58.716 the fool who drove one. It was an automotive bowl 0:02:58.796 --> 0:03:02.836 cut a wood paneled wedgie. It was even lamer than 0:03:02.876 --> 0:03:07.436 my parents Oldsmobile custom Cruiser station wagon. It just seems 0:03:07.476 --> 0:03:12.636 sad and boringing of drudgery and adulthood. I hated it, 0:03:13.916 --> 0:03:17.036 but hey, I was eleven. I had no idea what 0:03:17.076 --> 0:03:22.356 I was talking about. I'm Eddie Alterman, and this is 0:03:22.436 --> 0:03:27.116 Car Show. This week we begin a two part exploration 0:03:27.476 --> 0:03:31.876 of the minivan's quiet genius. The minivan has been beligned 0:03:31.916 --> 0:03:35.516 more than anything this side of a Ford Pinto. It's 0:03:35.556 --> 0:03:38.196 the butt of nearly every car joke, a sort of 0:03:38.236 --> 0:03:41.676 shorthand for automotive anemia, the thing you drive when you've 0:03:41.716 --> 0:03:44.836 given up. But show me another vehicle that was so 0:03:44.956 --> 0:03:49.356 right for its audience, so perfectly usable, and so utterly 0:03:49.476 --> 0:03:55.036 devastating to its competition as the humble minivan. Consider this 0:03:55.876 --> 0:04:00.676 with one basic vehicle, the Chrysler Corporation set fire to 0:04:00.796 --> 0:04:05.036 an entire category of cars. The nineteen eighty four Chrysler minivans, 0:04:05.396 --> 0:04:08.796 the Plymouth Voyager and Dodge Caravan laid waste to the 0:04:08.796 --> 0:04:11.716 family we car of the era. The station Wagon just 0:04:11.876 --> 0:04:15.716 made it look ridiculous. The minivan was and still is 0:04:16.356 --> 0:04:19.796 the best way to move people and their stuff. In 0:04:19.836 --> 0:04:22.996 this episode, we will learn about how we went almost 0:04:22.996 --> 0:04:26.836 overnight from kids roaming around unbelted in the third row 0:04:26.836 --> 0:04:30.356 of the station Wagon, took bolt upright and strapped into 0:04:30.356 --> 0:04:34.276 the minivan. In the minivan, and from here on out, 0:04:35.076 --> 0:04:39.756 kids would be tamped down, headsetted, and accounted for. This 0:04:39.836 --> 0:04:43.036 wasn't just a product shift, it was a cultural shift. 0:04:57.396 --> 0:05:00.956 Though there were small vans before it. Modern minivan history 0:05:01.036 --> 0:05:05.316 began in earnest when the great Italian designer Georgetto Jujaro 0:05:05.836 --> 0:05:08.516 revealed a new kind of people mover at the nineteen 0:05:08.596 --> 0:05:14.756 seventy eight Turin Auto Show. We met Jujaro back in 0:05:14.796 --> 0:05:19.956 the VWGTI episode. First he designs the ultimate German family car, 0:05:20.156 --> 0:05:23.636 the VW Golf, and then he creates the inspiration for 0:05:23.676 --> 0:05:28.236 the ultimate American one. I must say this people mover 0:05:28.356 --> 0:05:33.876 fixation doesn't exactly square with his personal style. Jujarro is 0:05:33.916 --> 0:05:37.716 a man of extreme elegance, a perfectly quaffed head of 0:05:37.716 --> 0:05:41.796 hair and beautifully tailored sport coats. The guy is right 0:05:41.876 --> 0:05:47.436 out of a Rosalini film. But he is also a pragmatist, 0:05:48.196 --> 0:05:52.196 and what he did for American families was eminently pragmatic. 0:05:53.396 --> 0:05:57.076 He did more than just redesign the traditional wagon. He 0:05:57.156 --> 0:06:00.836 rethought the whole thing from the inside out. He sort 0:06:00.836 --> 0:06:03.716 of fused that VW Golf he designed with a box 0:06:04.476 --> 0:06:08.276 because what's more space efficient than a box It had 0:06:08.276 --> 0:06:12.156 a high seating position and a cavernous interior. It was 0:06:12.276 --> 0:06:16.556 way cooler than a station wagon. This concept car, the 0:06:16.596 --> 0:06:20.956 turin show the Lancha Megagamma, is considered the rootstock of 0:06:20.996 --> 0:06:25.196 the minivan crop. Lancha had never produced the Megagamma, but 0:06:25.276 --> 0:06:27.876 the show car caught the attention of lots of designers 0:06:27.876 --> 0:06:31.596 and engineers. For a time, it was the biggest idea 0:06:31.676 --> 0:06:37.636 in the car business. Over at Ford, they had been 0:06:37.676 --> 0:06:41.236 cooking up their own small, boxy four passenger front wheel 0:06:41.316 --> 0:06:44.596 dry van around the same time. It was called the 0:06:44.676 --> 0:06:47.836 Minimax and it was the brainchild of Ford product guru 0:06:48.036 --> 0:06:53.916 Hell Spurlick. Even though Ford's then president Lee Iacocca championed it, 0:06:53.916 --> 0:06:57.596 it didn't go anywhere, but when Iacocca and Spurlick left 0:06:57.596 --> 0:07:01.996 Ford for Chrysler, they took the idea with them. Those 0:07:02.036 --> 0:07:06.596 two ultimately made the magic Wagon of reality. Iacocca and 0:07:06.676 --> 0:07:10.636 Spurlick were pretty unstoppable as a team. They also created 0:07:10.676 --> 0:07:15.116 the original Mustang during their time at Ford. Sperlick, the 0:07:15.196 --> 0:07:18.916 Michigan engineering grad, and Ia Coca, the son of Italian 0:07:18.916 --> 0:07:23.676 immigrants from Allentown, Pennsylvania. As different as they were, both 0:07:23.716 --> 0:07:26.356 made a habit of getting fired for speaking their minds 0:07:26.396 --> 0:07:31.916 in conservative Detroit boardrooms. Iacocca and Sperlick, through many iterations, 0:07:32.316 --> 0:07:35.356 made the minivan the three row mainstream people mover. It 0:07:35.476 --> 0:07:39.636 became they wanted a front wheel drive van that could 0:07:39.676 --> 0:07:43.916 fit in a garage and had a huge interior. Sperlick 0:07:43.996 --> 0:07:47.476 was responsible for pulling the vehicle together and ia Coca 0:07:47.516 --> 0:07:50.596 took it to market. He could sell a ketchup popsicle 0:07:50.916 --> 0:07:53.796 to a debutante in white gloves. A lot of people 0:07:53.836 --> 0:07:57.436 think America can't cut the mustard anymore. That quality counts 0:07:57.436 --> 0:08:00.916 for nothing, and hard work for even less, and commitment 0:08:01.356 --> 0:08:03.836 that went out with a hula hoope. Well, when you've 0:08:03.836 --> 0:08:05.996 been kicked in the head like we have, you'll learn 0:08:06.036 --> 0:08:08.876 pretty quick to put first things first, and in the car, 0:08:09.716 --> 0:08:12.916 product comes first, and product is what brought us back 0:08:12.956 --> 0:08:20.516 to prosperity. Ayacca was undoubtedly a great pitchman, but it 0:08:20.556 --> 0:08:23.316 was the physical layout of the minivan that had people 0:08:23.356 --> 0:08:27.676 trading in their wagons. For voyagers, the station wagon was 0:08:27.716 --> 0:08:30.996 the de facto family cruiser, only because it had an 0:08:30.996 --> 0:08:33.836 extra row of seats in the back. A seat where 0:08:33.916 --> 0:08:37.516 kids face rearward in the most precarious position in the car. 0:08:38.916 --> 0:08:41.716 Though the station wagon may have slept millions of kids around, 0:08:42.116 --> 0:08:46.436 it was not originally designed for them. As the name implies. 0:08:46.756 --> 0:08:48.996 It was meant to take people in their stuff to 0:08:49.196 --> 0:08:53.156 and from the train station. The station wagon was a 0:08:53.276 --> 0:08:57.636 luggage car. Only later did it evolve into the family holler. 0:08:58.036 --> 0:09:02.956 We remember so fondly from National Lampoon's vacation. Now. I 0:09:02.996 --> 0:09:04.956 went to myself to tell you, mister Griswold, but if 0:09:04.956 --> 0:09:07.956 you're thinking to take in the tribe fresh country, this 0:09:08.116 --> 0:09:11.516 is the automobile should be using. The wagon point family truster. 0:09:12.156 --> 0:09:14.676 You think you hated now, but where are you driving? 0:09:16.116 --> 0:09:19.036 A few years after the minivan came out, no one 0:09:19.076 --> 0:09:22.636 would want a station wagon. But to really understand how 0:09:22.636 --> 0:09:25.836 the Chrysler Magic Wagon killed that whole category of cars, 0:09:26.516 --> 0:09:33.516 we need to go inside the two and compare. Imagine 0:09:33.516 --> 0:09:36.076 we are back in nineteen eighty three at the wheel 0:09:36.076 --> 0:09:39.476 of my parents Oldsmobile wagon. You sit low in it 0:09:39.916 --> 0:09:43.836 on a vast expanse of the lure. Before you is 0:09:43.876 --> 0:09:47.716 a thin rimmed steering wheel with spokes placed lazily at 0:09:47.716 --> 0:09:51.196 the four and eight o'clock positions, as if you'd never 0:09:51.316 --> 0:09:55.116 need more than a pinky to steer. The thing behind 0:09:55.116 --> 0:09:58.356 the wheel is a broad and deep wood grain dash, 0:09:58.476 --> 0:10:02.716 and beyond that is a long rectangular hood that reaches 0:10:02.836 --> 0:10:06.476 clear to the horizon. In its engine bay rests a 0:10:06.516 --> 0:10:10.596 wheezy five liter V eight, making a pathetic hundred and 0:10:10.636 --> 0:10:14.476 forty horsepower. It couldn't pulled guano out of a goose. 0:10:15.596 --> 0:10:18.316 Climb into the second row and you'll see a hump 0:10:18.316 --> 0:10:22.236 in the floor. This bulge runs lengthwise down the center 0:10:22.236 --> 0:10:25.756 of the car and houses the drive shaft. To sit 0:10:25.836 --> 0:10:28.396 in the middle with legs splayed on either side of 0:10:28.396 --> 0:10:32.716 the hump is to sit in humiliation the so called 0:10:32.956 --> 0:10:36.316 bitch seat. Go around to the back of the wagon, 0:10:36.996 --> 0:10:40.396 Swing out the heavy, creaky tailgate, and there is the 0:10:40.476 --> 0:10:44.476 rear facing bench, swimming in a sea of light blue carpet. 0:10:45.596 --> 0:10:48.916 It's tiny, with two seat belts, and it's hemmed in 0:10:48.996 --> 0:10:52.076 by the high floor in some plastic cabinetry meant to 0:10:52.116 --> 0:10:56.076 carry stuff like jumper cables, road flares, and twelve packs 0:10:56.116 --> 0:11:01.116 of past The entire orientation of the olds is horizontal. 0:11:01.956 --> 0:11:09.356 It's long, low, and wide. Very detroit postwar. Know you 0:11:09.396 --> 0:11:11.876 get in this nineteen eighty four Magic Wagon and it's 0:11:11.876 --> 0:11:15.596 a big step up. Literally, you sit up high in 0:11:15.636 --> 0:11:20.476 these captain's chairs. There's room, you know, It's like the 0:11:20.556 --> 0:11:23.596 hip point is really high. The door still feels kind 0:11:23.596 --> 0:11:27.196 of low. Everything feels really airy, super easy to see 0:11:27.196 --> 0:11:29.036 out of. If there were kids in the back, you 0:11:29.036 --> 0:11:32.596 could see their faces. It's wild. And look at this 0:11:32.716 --> 0:11:38.716 awesome Valeur interior. That's me and my editor Jenquia geeking 0:11:38.756 --> 0:11:42.356 out because we are face to face with an original 0:11:42.636 --> 0:11:47.836 nineteen eighty four Magic Wagon. But not just any Magic wagon. 0:11:48.156 --> 0:11:52.476 This is number one. This is the first ever Magic Wagon, 0:11:52.596 --> 0:11:54.716 the first one to roll off the line, the one 0:11:54.756 --> 0:11:58.196 that Leaia Coca drove. Your smile is just so vague 0:11:58.276 --> 0:12:01.516 right now. I've never been this excited about a minivan 0:12:01.596 --> 0:12:05.756 of my life. I'm feeling a little bit like Leaya Coca, 0:12:05.796 --> 0:12:08.396 like I should wear like a double windsor tie and 0:12:08.436 --> 0:12:13.516 a brown It's so open, so like in the olds, 0:12:13.676 --> 0:12:18.116 you're sitting super low. This one, you're you feel way higher. 0:12:18.116 --> 0:12:20.316 You're sitting like a good foot higher, and yet the 0:12:20.396 --> 0:12:24.116 floor seems lower. You know, everything is opened up. There's 0:12:24.156 --> 0:12:26.756 no center consoles, just as big pass through you can 0:12:26.876 --> 0:12:31.516 like reach back and whack the kids. It's great. Whereas 0:12:31.516 --> 0:12:34.476 my parents oldsmobile had a wide bench seat up front, 0:12:35.316 --> 0:12:41.236 the Magic Wagon has captain's chairs with armrests. These high chairs, 0:12:41.276 --> 0:12:44.316 they really help you see out of the thing. The 0:12:44.356 --> 0:12:46.876 hood is really short and it sort of falls away 0:12:46.916 --> 0:12:49.116 from you. You have a great view of the road. 0:12:49.836 --> 0:12:57.036 It's just open an area and the visibility is fantastic. Okay, 0:12:57.116 --> 0:12:59.356 you go around to the side of the vehicle and 0:12:59.436 --> 0:13:01.996 you've got a sliding door like a big boy van. 0:13:02.316 --> 0:13:05.396 The access to the second and third rows is so easy. 0:13:05.756 --> 0:13:08.356 You can just walk right in, like if you're a kid, 0:13:08.876 --> 0:13:12.036 you could just step under that little ledge there and 0:13:12.316 --> 0:13:15.076 see yourself to the back seat where you'd sit in 0:13:15.316 --> 0:13:19.476 strapped in, you know, upright, not crawling around on the 0:13:19.516 --> 0:13:23.236 back like an animal and so and facing forward and 0:13:23.556 --> 0:13:28.796 facing forward. Okay, this is really important. That's right. It's 0:13:28.796 --> 0:13:33.796 a front facing third row. This is key. In the 0:13:33.836 --> 0:13:38.636 station wagon, kids sit facing backward inhaling exhaust fumes through 0:13:38.636 --> 0:13:42.676 the rear window. What child hating monster thought the rear 0:13:42.716 --> 0:13:46.796 facing third row was a good idea? It seems crazy now, 0:13:46.956 --> 0:13:49.556 after all we know about crash safety to put the 0:13:49.636 --> 0:13:52.476 smallest kids in the most vulnerable position in the car, 0:13:53.076 --> 0:13:56.156 right in the rear crumple zone, with their feet inches 0:13:56.196 --> 0:13:59.676 from the bumper. I'm going to try to shrink myself down, 0:14:01.036 --> 0:14:03.516 but it's pretty easy to get back in here. You know. 0:14:04.316 --> 0:14:07.236 Here in the minivan, they sit in the back row, 0:14:07.836 --> 0:14:13.756 high off the floor, facing forward, almost like real human beings. 0:14:12.996 --> 0:14:17.716 In the minivan. The kid is king. Yeah. So when 0:14:17.716 --> 0:14:19.316 you say kid is king, what do you mean by that? 0:14:19.956 --> 0:14:22.876 So the kid is in like the kind of command 0:14:22.916 --> 0:14:25.516 position in the vehicle. He can see out, he can 0:14:25.556 --> 0:14:28.836 see everything. He's sort of driving the bus. He's you know, 0:14:29.036 --> 0:14:32.676 he's sitting in the back of the chariot and whipping 0:14:32.716 --> 0:14:35.996 the horse in the driver's seat. Yeah. I mean, you 0:14:35.996 --> 0:14:38.596 are pretty high up here in the back right, there's 0:14:38.596 --> 0:14:41.396 like this perched element. You can see everything. You know, 0:14:41.476 --> 0:14:44.076 You're you're sitting so much higher in the third row 0:14:44.116 --> 0:14:46.396 than you would be in the second row. You're really 0:14:46.436 --> 0:14:49.076 the king of the castle. King in the castle. King 0:14:49.156 --> 0:14:51.916 in the castle. Have a chair. I have a chair. 0:14:53.956 --> 0:14:57.756 Oh go do this, King in the castle. The real 0:14:58.396 --> 0:15:02.116 key innovation is not just the third row. It's the 0:15:02.156 --> 0:15:05.996 height of the third row. And kids can see out. 0:15:06.396 --> 0:15:08.436 You know, they can see what's happening. They have a 0:15:08.476 --> 0:15:11.236 sense of control roll too, and they're also part of 0:15:11.276 --> 0:15:14.356 the conversation now where if they were facing backwards, they're 0:15:14.396 --> 0:15:19.636 totally separate. Yeah, they're not sequestered and cordoned off in 0:15:19.716 --> 0:15:22.036 the back part of the car. They are part of 0:15:22.036 --> 0:15:24.716 the family. Now. I hadn't thought about that until I 0:15:24.796 --> 0:15:27.476 sat in the back here, and now you're with mom 0:15:27.476 --> 0:15:30.956 and dad, and your sisters are your brothers, and everybody 0:15:31.036 --> 0:15:34.196 is one family unit, as opposed to having the kids 0:15:34.396 --> 0:15:38.396 being kind of, you know, not seen and not heard 0:15:38.436 --> 0:15:40.796 from here, kids like have a voice. You're part of 0:15:40.836 --> 0:15:44.916 the family, You're part of the team. This is why 0:15:45.036 --> 0:15:49.236 Jujaro and Spurlick and Ia Coca wanted that front wheel 0:15:49.316 --> 0:15:53.796 drive layout, with the entire powertrain up front between the wheels. 0:15:54.356 --> 0:15:56.956 There is no drive shaft running the length of the vehicle, 0:15:57.516 --> 0:16:02.156 no transmission tunnel taking up room upfront. Everything is pushed down. 0:16:03.436 --> 0:16:06.156 That's how you get a big airy box on wheels. 0:16:06.956 --> 0:16:11.996 It's practically a mobile living room. The station wagon was horizontal, 0:16:12.396 --> 0:16:16.836 whereas the orientation of a minivan is vertical. It is 0:16:16.876 --> 0:16:21.516 short and upright. It's easy to wheel around you can 0:16:21.556 --> 0:16:27.076 see your kids, you can see the road. By some 0:16:27.196 --> 0:16:30.196 miracle of corporate negligence, Jen and I are given the 0:16:30.276 --> 0:16:35.516 rare opportunity to take Magic Wagon number one for a spin. Okay, 0:16:35.876 --> 0:16:44.356 now we're rolling. Oh she feels showroom new. This is awesome, 0:16:44.876 --> 0:16:50.876 really driving a piece of history. Rides great, it's easy 0:16:50.916 --> 0:16:53.436 to drive. You feel like you could get in and 0:16:53.516 --> 0:16:56.796 drive it across the country now still thirty eight years later. 0:16:57.196 --> 0:17:02.876 It's relaxing, it's terrific, and not about the engine. It's 0:17:02.916 --> 0:17:08.956 about the interior. It's not about handling. It's about family 0:17:09.796 --> 0:17:13.396 cargo space. Not cargo space, but just living room, the 0:17:13.476 --> 0:17:16.636 most precious cargo, the most precious cargo of the family. 0:17:16.916 --> 0:17:25.356 Exactly as different as the minivan and the station wagon were, 0:17:25.396 --> 0:17:29.436 though both were products of Detroit's so called Malaise era, 0:17:29.876 --> 0:17:33.276 so they do have some things in common. Both were 0:17:33.316 --> 0:17:38.596 screwed together with utter apathy, both shook and rattled, and 0:17:38.836 --> 0:17:43.716 both were comically underpowered. Your only minivan engine choices were 0:17:43.716 --> 0:17:46.636 the piece of shit Corporate for cylinder or the slightly 0:17:46.676 --> 0:17:51.196 less dreadful Mitsubishi for a cylinder. Each pumped out about 0:17:51.196 --> 0:17:55.596 one hundred glue factory certified horsepower. The minivan and the 0:17:55.596 --> 0:17:58.756 wagon were similar, and that the engines almost didn't matter, 0:17:59.596 --> 0:18:02.356 but the differences were stark and could be traced back 0:18:02.356 --> 0:18:06.156 to this. The station wagon is essentially a sedan with 0:18:06.196 --> 0:18:09.636 its roof extended over where the trunk would be. It's 0:18:09.636 --> 0:18:14.276 an adaptation of another form, but the minivan was something 0:18:14.516 --> 0:18:18.796 entirely new, designed and engineered with a modern family in mind, 0:18:19.516 --> 0:18:25.236 conceived from the inside out. In nineteen eighty four, the 0:18:25.316 --> 0:18:28.876 first year of the Chrysler Vans osmobile, sold about thirty 0:18:28.876 --> 0:18:33.916 four thousand custom Cruiser wagons. By nineteen ninety it sold 0:18:33.956 --> 0:18:39.436 fewer than four thousand. Video killed the Radio Star, but 0:18:39.556 --> 0:18:42.516 this didn't happen solely because the minivan had a sliding 0:18:42.556 --> 0:18:45.876 door and tons of space. The search continues for Little 0:18:45.916 --> 0:18:49.716 Debbie Vincent, missing since yesterday morning. So far, there are 0:18:49.756 --> 0:18:53.316 no clues to her disappearance. The lease speculate that she 0:18:53.396 --> 0:18:55.756 loved to have forgotten. We'll look at some of the 0:18:55.836 --> 0:18:59.676 other deeper seated reasons why the minivan canceled the station wagon, 0:19:00.876 --> 0:19:02.396 and a lot of it had to do with that 0:19:02.516 --> 0:19:06.636 third row of seats. I'm Eddie Alterman, and this is 0:19:06.716 --> 0:19:22.596 car Show. Will be right back The Magic Wagon was 0:19:22.636 --> 0:19:25.876 as much born out of the world as into it. 0:19:25.876 --> 0:19:29.796 It came at a time when somewhat unthinkably, America started 0:19:29.836 --> 0:19:35.116 screwing up Detroit as a monia statistical leader and robbery 0:19:35.356 --> 0:19:39.916 assault and rate them back from As kids in the 0:19:39.996 --> 0:19:43.836 late seventies, we were trained to spot kidnappers and were 0:19:43.876 --> 0:19:47.636 well versed in stranger danger. I remember seeing the wanted 0:19:47.676 --> 0:19:50.956 poster in my local post office for the Oakland County 0:19:51.036 --> 0:19:54.636 child killer. The wanted poster said he drove a Gremlin. 0:19:55.996 --> 0:20:01.436 I could hardly imagine anything scarier. Oh, except this. The 0:20:01.476 --> 0:20:04.076 Soviets not only continue to build up their offense if 0:20:04.156 --> 0:20:08.156 nuclear forces at an unprecedented rate, they're also spending almost 0:20:08.196 --> 0:20:12.036 as much on strategu defense. Our country seemed incapable of 0:20:12.076 --> 0:20:16.196 addressing not only the real issues, but also the symbolic ones. 0:20:17.156 --> 0:20:20.996 The Space Shuttle Challenger in nineteen eighty six revealed to 0:20:21.076 --> 0:20:24.636 every classroom in America that our institutions were far more 0:20:24.716 --> 0:20:28.636 fragile than we ever imagined. Already more than four miles down, 0:20:28.916 --> 0:20:32.076 whims were throttling up three hundred and four percent of 0:20:32.196 --> 0:20:38.036 Challenger go and throttle up the Shuttle mission will launch. 0:20:39.516 --> 0:20:42.676 My God, fifty is going to explode one twenty nine 0:20:43.196 --> 0:20:47.116 percent altitude nine nauticle miles down range. When people saw 0:20:47.116 --> 0:20:50.476 the curtain whisked back on all of America's frailties, the 0:20:50.596 --> 0:20:54.916 response was to hunker down, especially parents of small children. 0:20:55.676 --> 0:20:59.236 This was a time of real paranoia, a downsizing of 0:20:59.236 --> 0:21:06.116 our ambitions, and it seemed into everything. Not only were 0:21:06.116 --> 0:21:08.916 cars getting smaller as a consequence of the fuel crisis 0:21:08.916 --> 0:21:12.236 of the early seventies, the psychological space in which they 0:21:12.236 --> 0:21:16.956 operated was too. In their engineering, cars were turning from 0:21:16.956 --> 0:21:21.636 wild stallions to petting zoo ponies. The car's social function 0:21:21.716 --> 0:21:26.036 was changing as well, from entertainment, freedom and expression to 0:21:26.236 --> 0:21:31.516 personal and family protection. Car seats, seat belts, and airbags 0:21:31.716 --> 0:21:35.956 were becoming more commonplace. It all reflected the wider shift 0:21:36.316 --> 0:21:39.516 in parenting itself. I think the minivan in some ways 0:21:39.556 --> 0:21:43.316 also projected that you know, I am committed. You know 0:21:43.396 --> 0:21:48.356 I'm a committed parent. That's Miriam Errand. She's the former 0:21:48.476 --> 0:21:51.756 editor in chief of Child Magazine and the former director 0:21:51.796 --> 0:21:56.956 of the Good Housekeeping Institute. Even into the seventies, parenting 0:21:57.036 --> 0:22:00.836 was something you achieved in between bowling frames and cigarette breaks. 0:22:01.676 --> 0:22:05.156 But Miriam says by the eighties, kids were becoming the 0:22:05.236 --> 0:22:08.956 focus and when by people was got into parenting just 0:22:09.236 --> 0:22:11.116 like they've done every phase of their life, they got 0:22:11.116 --> 0:22:14.116 into it with this amazing gusto. So they were all 0:22:14.156 --> 0:22:17.636 in the rise of the working mom gave rise to 0:22:17.756 --> 0:22:22.116 meticulously organized suburban carpool systems, So suddenly, you know, you 0:22:22.276 --> 0:22:24.676 had to you had to get on board with the 0:22:24.756 --> 0:22:26.956 other people, other parents in the neighborhood to total a 0:22:26.996 --> 0:22:32.436 lot of kids. And also team sports became a very 0:22:32.476 --> 0:22:36.156 big thing for kids at younger ages, so you've got, 0:22:36.196 --> 0:22:39.156 you know, the soccer mom toting the soccer team and 0:22:39.236 --> 0:22:42.956 all the gear. I think that in some ways, the minivan, 0:22:43.116 --> 0:22:46.156 you know, bigger, better, you know, it's a real statement. 0:22:46.956 --> 0:22:51.476 I think reflects almost the image that many parents were 0:22:51.476 --> 0:22:55.436 trying to project that this was life became very child centered. 0:22:58.876 --> 0:23:02.796 The minivan was parentings suit of armor, and it only 0:23:02.836 --> 0:23:05.916 got thicker from there. The key ideas were the addition 0:23:05.956 --> 0:23:10.556 of a second sliding door, the rollout seats, cup holders, 0:23:10.676 --> 0:23:15.116 juice cup holders, integrated safety chail seats, grocery bag holders, 0:23:15.116 --> 0:23:20.116 and the seatbacks. This is well traveled car executive Chris Theodore. 0:23:21.076 --> 0:23:23.476 He worked on the first minivan and led the second 0:23:23.556 --> 0:23:28.396 generation's development. I wanted to understand the thinking behind the 0:23:28.476 --> 0:23:31.556 second generation of a minivan. One invention I wanted to 0:23:31.596 --> 0:23:35.076 do I never got into production, but somebody finally did 0:23:37.596 --> 0:23:40.316 was a little video cam that would be up in 0:23:40.356 --> 0:23:42.676 the mirror so I could watch what the kids were doing, 0:23:42.716 --> 0:23:47.756 but would flop over to a backup camera. And so 0:23:47.836 --> 0:23:50.356 we were working in all all kinds of stuff like that. 0:23:51.196 --> 0:23:53.916 Chris was on the right track. As we'll see in 0:23:53.996 --> 0:23:57.636 part two of our Family Car series, minivans have become 0:23:57.836 --> 0:24:02.036 mobile surveillance states. But just as important as keeping an 0:24:02.036 --> 0:24:05.996 eye on the kids is making sure they stay optimally hydrated. 0:24:06.596 --> 0:24:09.876 Were these the first cup holders or they were not 0:24:09.916 --> 0:24:14.036 the first cup holders? They were the first in the 0:24:14.116 --> 0:24:17.836 front where the first variable cup holders. It was like 0:24:17.876 --> 0:24:20.356 a claw and whatever size cup you could put in 0:24:20.396 --> 0:24:22.436 you could ratchet down so it would rip the cup. 0:24:22.676 --> 0:24:25.276 And the first juice box holder, it was the first 0:24:25.356 --> 0:24:28.676 juice box holders. So we had I can't remember the numbers, 0:24:28.716 --> 0:24:32.796 like thirteen or something like that cup holders throughout the vehicle. 0:24:33.836 --> 0:24:37.156 That means that in the high occupancy seven passenger version 0:24:37.516 --> 0:24:39.796 with a full complement of five kids in the back, 0:24:40.436 --> 0:24:44.356 each one could double fist their juice boxes. No wonder 0:24:44.436 --> 0:24:48.196 parents love them. They weren't just cars, they were child 0:24:48.196 --> 0:24:54.436 pacifying anxiety alleviation devices. But parents love them for another reason, 0:24:54.756 --> 0:24:58.556 and it's a foundational truth of the car business. No 0:24:58.596 --> 0:25:00.956 one wants to drive the same car their parents did. 0:25:01.796 --> 0:25:05.796 And here's where the cycle repeats itself. No matter how 0:25:05.796 --> 0:25:09.556 great the minivan was for baby boomers, Jenac, there's like 0:25:09.596 --> 0:25:12.836 me and my wife wanted something new. We found it 0:25:12.956 --> 0:25:17.036 in the suv or sport utility vehicle. I asked my 0:25:17.076 --> 0:25:20.196 wife Carrie about it so care. When the kids were 0:25:20.236 --> 0:25:26.516 a little we had wagons and three row SUVs, not minivans, 0:25:26.756 --> 0:25:30.156 when a minivan would have been much more practical. Why 0:25:30.156 --> 0:25:33.676 didn't you want a minivan? While I loved the idea 0:25:33.716 --> 0:25:36.276 of driving the living room, I also felt like it 0:25:36.396 --> 0:25:42.476 put the entire identity of parenthood before the identity of self. 0:25:43.156 --> 0:25:46.356 And as somebody who worked, I felt like when I'd 0:25:46.356 --> 0:25:48.356 pick people up from the airport or drive them to 0:25:48.436 --> 0:25:51.756 different events when they'd come into town, I often felt 0:25:51.796 --> 0:25:55.756 like I'd much rather have a professional looking car than 0:25:55.796 --> 0:26:00.316 a mom car. When SUV started infiltrating the car market 0:26:00.356 --> 0:26:03.636 back in the nineties. It wasn't because they were carefully 0:26:03.676 --> 0:26:07.236 planned and packaged people movers. It was because they said 0:26:07.316 --> 0:26:12.116 something powerful about their drive. That these rugged frontiers people 0:26:12.196 --> 0:26:15.116 were ready at a moment's notice to drop all their 0:26:15.156 --> 0:26:19.236 workaday responsibilities, strap a sea kayak to the roof, and 0:26:19.356 --> 0:26:23.116 set out for Cape Horn. These folk may have warned 0:26:23.156 --> 0:26:27.676 khakis by day, but underneath all that synthetic fleece lurked 0:26:27.716 --> 0:26:32.036 the soul of an adventurer. The vehicles even had names 0:26:32.036 --> 0:26:40.676 like that Pathfinder, Trailblazer, Explorer. These were the anti minivans, 0:26:41.236 --> 0:26:45.596 macho road crushers with big wheels, knobby tires and pedestrian 0:26:45.636 --> 0:26:51.236 clavering brush bars. And then what do you know, Slowly 0:26:51.276 --> 0:26:56.076 but surely, as the suv expanded in popularity, style, and size, 0:26:56.716 --> 0:27:00.956 it began to morph into a minivan replacement. Three rows 0:27:00.996 --> 0:27:07.236 of seats, tons of entertainment options inside, cupholders galore, but 0:27:07.356 --> 0:27:11.356 no sliding door stigma. The suv grew up, and in 0:27:11.516 --> 0:27:15.636 doing so, became a minivan in disguise. I guess every 0:27:15.636 --> 0:27:19.556 generation needs their own king of the carpool lane. If 0:27:19.596 --> 0:27:22.676 you think about it, we always say that there's nothing 0:27:22.756 --> 0:27:27.036 better at moving people and stuff. Than a minivan. That's 0:27:27.116 --> 0:27:30.756 Dodge CEO Tim Coniscus. He used to be the head 0:27:30.796 --> 0:27:35.476 of passenger cars for Chrysler's parent company, Stilantis. Tim is 0:27:35.476 --> 0:27:38.636 one of the hardest hardcore car enthusiasts in the business 0:27:38.636 --> 0:27:40.476 and one of the people who gave the world the 0:27:40.516 --> 0:27:46.196 original seven hundred and seven horsepower Dodge Hellcat. None of 0:27:46.196 --> 0:27:50.236 this diminishes his love for the minivan. The three row suv, 0:27:50.396 --> 0:27:54.396 Tim says, is basically a people mover on stilts, which 0:27:54.396 --> 0:27:57.396