# Dodge car-a-van. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 26, 2004, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dodge-car-a-van/247261 "2004-05-26T23:53:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2004, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dodge-car-a-van/247261/1 "2004-05-26T23:53:15Z")
I’d swear I remember seeing this (hyphens and all) on older dodge vans, and in advertising, but everyone else says I’m hallucinating again. I googled it, but didn’t get much. God, I love drugs. Anyone wish to join me la la? Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dodge-car-a-van/247261/2 "2004-05-27T00:32:32Z")
I don’t recall the hyphens. The Dodge Caravan is the minivan line, but you probably already knew that. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dodge-car-a-van/247261/3 "2004-05-27T00:45:37Z")
Yeah, I know that. Caravan only goes back to the early '80s. I’m thinking earlier. I remember the name being a play on the words “car” and “van”. Could be they did play it that way in ads, I guess. Why does Iaccocca get credit for “inventing” the concept, anyway? Volkswagen’s Type 3 “bus” predates Caravan by maybe 25 years. I know, I owned a few. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dodge-car-a-van/247261/4 "2004-05-27T02:25:27Z")
The Caravan/Voyager presented a van body on a car chassis. The combination of passenger-car drivability with near truck-like utility was the breakthrough. The VW microbus might be considered a pointer in that direction, but it is not classified as a minivan. ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dodge-car-a-van/247261/5 "2004-05-27T03:08:12Z")
I found a page of [Dodge ad scans](http://www.adpassion.i8.com/dodge/dodge84-85_1.htm) from back then. One halfway down says “Introducing Dodge Caravan”. Sorry. The rest of the ads are really cool to look at though. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dodge-car-a-van/247261/6 "2004-05-27T03:17:54Z")
I saw a print ad in _Motor Trend_ sometime around '98 in which there was a profile image of the Caravan, followed by “car”, and then a second, followed by “van”. Could that be what you’re thinking of? ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dodge-car-a-van/247261/7 "2004-05-27T12:51:52Z")
There was an Opel SW called the Car-A-Van [http://www.kadett-b.nl/Brazil/brazil.html](http://www.kadett-b.nl/Brazil/brazil.html) [http://drive.to/kadett-b](http://drive.to/kadett-b) ---
**Author:** ![aktep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f0a364/32.png) [@aktep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aktep)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dodge-car-a-van/247261/8 "2004-05-27T13:48:19Z")
I do remember some TV commercials in the late 90s that, like the print ad above, used the “Car” and “Van” words to make Caravan, but not with hyphens. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dodge-car-a-van/247261/9 "2004-05-27T14:40:30Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > Why does Iaccocca get credit for “inventing” the concept, anyway? In his autobiography, Iaccocca cheerfully acknowledges that he did not invent the concept at all. There were both Japanese and European models with the same concept (lower step-up, car-like drivability). He thought there might be at least a niche market for it in the U.S. He brought the idea to his bosses at Ford and got laughed out of the room. Later on, when he was the big boss at Chrysler, no one dared to laugh at him. If people want to confuse “first in the U.S.” with “first in the world” after Iaccocca himself gives the straight dope, don’t blame him. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dodge-car-a-van/247261/10 "2004-05-27T16:10:35Z")
It’s confirmed: you’ve gone ga-ga. After much searching of Dodge van and fan sites, I can find no such animal. The A-100 seems to be the earliest van version, with many commercial versions, and then there was the morphing of the station wagon and van into the Caravan. This is the sort of question that bugs me, though, so curse you. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dodge-car-a-van/247261/11 "2004-05-27T23:10:18Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > It’s confirmed: you’ve gone ga-ga. > > After much searching of Dodge van and fan sites, I can find no such animal. The A-100 seems to be the earliest van version, with many commercial versions, and then there was the morphing of the station wagon and van into the Caravan. This is the sort of question that bugs me, though, so curse you. I’ve pretty much accepted that, **Chefguy**. Curses and all. 😉 Now, how do I make a perfect soft-boiled egg? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dodge-car-a-van/247261/12 "2004-05-27T23:27:52Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > I’ve pretty much accepted that, **Chefguy**. Curses and all. 😉 > Now, how do I make a perfect soft-boiled egg? Soft-boiled eggs are the spawn of satan. Perfection not possible. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dodge-car-a-van/247261/13 "2004-05-27T23:49:10Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Soft-boiled eggs are the spawn of satan. Perfection not possible. Yeah, but they’re reputed to cure flashbacks. ---
**Author:** ![stockton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@stockton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stockton)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dodge-car-a-van/247261/14 "2004-05-28T01:31:21Z")
Are you possibly thinking of the Corvair rampside van (Corvan): [http://www.corvair.de/n2vzd/](http://www.corvair.de/n2vzd/) Or the Volkswagen Vanagon? Those KIND of remind me of CAR-A-VAN, but I can’t find any substantiation for your OQ (Original Quest) ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dodge-car-a-van/247261/15 "2004-05-28T03:39:51Z")
> [@stockton](#): > > Are you possibly thinking of the Corvair rampside van (Corvan): > > [N2VZD - Tim Colson](http://www.corvair.de/n2vzd/) > > Or the Volkswagen Vanagon? > > Those KIND of remind me of CAR-A-VAN, but I can’t find any substantiation for your OQ (Original Quest) Nah. I imagined the whole thing. Oh well… BTW; my brother has a Corvair, a Spyder? It had factory dual carbs. He rolled it on a city street, ala Nader. 😃