The Year Is: 1991

The year is 1991. Your son has just turned 16 and the two of you have just finished a father son project in time for him to drive to school for the first time. Things are going well until you get a call from the principal that your son has been a tad irresponsible in the school parking lot with his new found freedom/ride.

You decide that while he pays off the damages, a minivan would be more his speed. The only question is, which one?

1991 Toyota Previa

1991 Pontiac Trans Sport

1991 Plymouth Voyager

1991 Plymouth Colt Vista

1991 Oldsmobile Silhouette

1991 Mitsubishi Expo

1991 Mazda MPV

1991 GMC Safari

1991 Ford Aerostar

1991 Dodge Colt Vista

1991 Dodge Caravan

1991 Chrysler Town and Country

1991 Chevrolet Lumina APV

1991 Chevrolet Astro

1991 Volkswagen Vanagon

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Now see, there's a few ways this could play out. You could go for a one of the M-vans with AWD/locking diff and stick a lift kit on it, you could wait until the fall and get a 1992 U-van with a 3800 (3800+plastic body=Weee!) or you could get one of the Chrysler vans and stuff a 2.2 Turbo out of a Shelby Z in one.

I'd go with the Trans Sport, with the 3.8L and alloys of course...

Surprisingly, I was enamored with the Pontiac Trans Sport in the early '90s, and many of my friend's parents had one, if not the equally badged-engineered Olds Silhouette or Chevy Lumina APV (I'm very surprised that Buick never offered one ). However, Trans Sport's don't make good convertibles:

Being a dyed-in-the-wool GMC guy, I voted for the GMC Safari as that was truly a better vehicle than any of the U-body vans.

Yeah, if the Transport was a '92 with the 3800, I'd go with that.

If I'm stuck with a '91 model, however, I'd take the Voyager, no question. We had a 1989 that was the bee's knees.

The boy'd be walking...

Clearly, you want the Vanagon.

A Nissan Axxess might also be a contender. I'd have to give a nod to the Chrysler twins.

I grew up in the Dodge Colt Vista (an '86) and I can testify to it's surprising off-road prowess.

The Aerostar was almost a luxury liner in its ride.

I wouldn't want any of them, but I'd pick Silhouette first (gotta represent) followed closely by a 5-speed/4WD Dodge Colt Vista turbo.

Astro/Safari

Astro/Safari

I can't imagine any circumstance in which I'd buy a minivan, but if I did find myself needing to do so in 1991, it would have been one of these.

Like CUVs and microcars, this is a segment I'll never be in.

Edited September 26, 201213 yr by Camino LS6