#motorweek #retro Welcome back for another Reaction video to a Motorweek Retro Review! This time, their 1985 Minivan comparo - the Chevy Astro, Plymouth Voyager, Ford Aerostar, and the Toyota Van!
We had a brand new 1989 Aerostar when I was a kid.. and I learned to drive in it! I still currently own 5 Aerostars... so you can tell that's the winner my family picked! Love these old retro reviews!
Had a 91 Caravan and it was an excellent vehicle for a small family. This was after they did a refresh on the styling that we found more attractive than the original. As the kids grew up it became more of a truck with the seats pulled out. We used it to haul our gear to vacations on the Outer Banks as well as college dorm rooms. I don’t think I’m that strong but I pulled the seats out of the van many times by myself. They were extremely easy to remove. Thanks again for a great video subject.
I grew up in a 92 and 98 caravan / grand voyager. Now I have a Pacifica for my own family and I love it! With each new generation, there were more innovation. In the 98, the rear seats had wheels for easier removal and my dad was so excited for them. Now they just fold into the van - no removal necessary. Although we have other fancier vehicles in the family, the minivan gets the most usage bc it’s just so functional and easy to live with as a family vehicle.
Growing up in the 2000’s my grandfather had a ‘94 Grand Caravan and that was a great vehicle overall. He bought it as a work van used it served it’s purpose well. Of course, beind a Chrysler the transmission went out sometime around 2010, and in its later years, the all of the plastic crap rattled and the underseat storage cubby didn’t go in and out as easily as it should’ve, but otherwise a great, versatile van that he had until just 2019.
From a video I thought would be silly I was actually mind blown! A) I can speak to the Ford Aerostar because my parents had one when I was a kid. The rear AC vents were nice to have and that rear audio control even allowed headphones to be plugged into it at some point (it was a '90 or '91 I think). And they did put the spare under the vehicle by then. B) The Toyota Van had the same setup with the engine under the passenger seat as its predecessor the Toyota Previa. C) I would have ranked the Aerostar 2nd.
Great review and video ! My parents owned a Chevrolet ASTRO van for many years . The ASTRO was pretty reliable and was a good replacement for their trusty old Pontiac Parisienne station wagon .
My father had a 1986 Dodge Caravan. It was based on Chrysler's K Car Platofmr. The problem with Toyota's van is that they put part of the engine under the front seat as it has a small nose
My parents had a 94 GMC Safari with that 4.3v6. They had it for at least 10 years, and drove it back and forth every year between Florida and NY. It was always very dependable, and had well over 200K miles on it. They only got rid of it eventually because the rust was starting to get to it pretty badly. Thanks for another good video!
The Plymouth was definitely the winner. Like you said, Chrysler was years ahead with this design as they had been working on it since not long after Iacocca took the helm. The only downside i see is no V6 option, which it would eventually get. The others were obviously rushed to market and, therefore, had a lot more imperfections. Like you guessed, the Toyota was indeed a JDM market work van that they messaged by adding seats, windows and some creature comforts. The Astro was based on the S10 platform if im not mistaken, which makes it no surprise with its harsher ride and more utilitarian demeanor. The Aerostar was kinda on the larger side and it did well but were very unreliable for the most part, those Cologne (Ford Germany) V6 units they put in these were unrefined, and despite being fairly narrow, the rest of the demesions were closer to that of a full size van than the others. Great vid as always.
The Chrysler Minivan was designed to family hauler to replace station wagon. But is missing 2 features other minivans had - sunroof and rear A/C & radio controls which they wouldn't offer for a very long time. It appears Toyota rushed to get a minivan out to compete with it
The Toyota Van would make an excellent first vehicle. The Chrysler minivans made more sense when the V6 became available. The others are fine for certain buyers.
Great reactions and views Jon. Amazing how far minivans have come. Remarkable that it took around a decade for FWD genuine direct competitors for the Chrysler minivans to appear. With the Nissan Quest/Mercury Villager, and later, the Ford Windstar.
Chrysler hit a grand slam with these minivans. Everyone I know that bought one loved it and wound up buying several of them. Funny to think that in a way we have Ford to thank for it - turning down the minivan project and subsequent firing Lee Iacocca allowed Chrysler to become the pioneer of this car based family hauler.
None of these come close to stacking up to the Caravan. I don’t know who would choose a gussied up commercial van over a clearly purpose designed minivan.
It's funy how bad quality was in the 80s. At 8:07 you can clearly see the rear wheel isn't centered in the wheel opening. How do you design a vehicle where the wheels aren't centered in the opening?
